A UN report warned that the Houthis' continued engagement in the regional war alongside Iran coupled with a sharp reduction in humanitarian funding, threaten to deepen Yemen’s humanitarian crisis when already 450 health facilities, including 76 hospitals, have closed in the last year.
“The Houthis’ engagement in the regional war may trigger displacement, civilian casualties, and damage to vital infrastructure, including ports and storage facilities, deepening humanitarian needs nationwide,” according to a Public Health Situation Analysis (PHSA) issued by the World Health Organization this week.
WHO called on the international community to take urgent action to close the worsening funding gap, warning that continued cuts in humanitarian assistance would lead to more loss of livelihoods, and increase exposure to hunger, disease, displacement and protection risk.
The UN agency noted that escalating conflict in the Middle East has spillover risks for Yemen.
In March 2026, it said Houthis began to engage in the regional war by launching military attacks against Israel.
“Renewed hostilities are already drawing forces into regional fighting,” it said, warning that strikes on Houthi-held areas may trigger displacement, civilian casualties, and damage to vital infrastructure, including ports and storage facilities, deepening humanitarian needs.
Decline in Funding
Surging needs, significant funding cuts, and shrinking access are forcing partners to scale back life-saving support, according to WHO.
The agency said in its report that Yemen enters 2026 at a critical tipping point, with 22.3 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection.
Nearly 5 million people are experiencing IPC Phase 3 or above (Crisis or worse) conditions between March and May 2026, with 1.4 million people experiencing IPC Phase 4 (Emergency).
Also, Yemen faces widespread outbreaks of vaccine -preventable diseases, including circulating vaccine -derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2), acute watery diarrhea (AWD)/cholera, measles, diphtheria, dengue fever and malaria, exacerbated by low vaccination rates, misinformation.
The UN agency warned that without urgent action, lives will be lost, communities will destabilize, and essential systems will edge closer to collapse.
Hospitals Closing
WHO revealed that against a backdrop of increasing needs, the humanitarian response in 2025 operated under severe and unprecedented funding shortages, with the Yemen 2025 HNRP funded at only 29%, forcing clusters to scale down or suspend critical life saving services across sectors.
As of May 2026, it said reduced funding has resulted in a reduction of nutrition services by up to 63%. Over 450 health facilities, including 76 hospitals, have closed in the last year.
In a related development, WHO said Yemen has been engulfed in violent conflict.
It said that by 2019, the country had reversed human development by 21 years, and if the conflict continues until 2030, the developmental setback could extend to nearly four decades, more than one-and-a-half generation.
Forgotten Crisis
UNFPA Representative Francesco Galtieri said this week that Yemen has become a forgotten crisis, despite witnessing one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.
He said around 650,000 pregnant women need support in a country with the highest maternal mortality rate in the Arab region.
Galtieri noted that three women die every day due to pregnancy complications or during childbirth. Around two-thirds of these deaths could be prevented if they had access to a midwife or doctor.
He also said funding cuts are putting the programs under severe strain. Galtieri told UN News that around 40% of UNFPA’s humanitarian funding was cut last year, forcing the agency to suspend or halt support for roughly one third of its services.
