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Millions of people in Yemen need assistance to ensure their basic survival

Countries
Yemen
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

People in Need 21.2M
Nov 2015

Humanitarian needs & key figures

Ongoing conflict is devastating Yemen. Humanitarian partners now estimate that 21.2 million people – or 82 per cent of the population – require some kind of humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs or protect their fundamental rights. The severity of needs among vulnerable people has also intensified across sectors. Major needs include the following:

1. Protection of Civilians

Six months of conflict have taken a severe toll on civilians’ lives and basic rights. Since 26 March, health facilities have reported more than 32,200 casualties – many of them civilians. In the same period, OHCHR has verified 8,875 reports of human rights violations – an average of 43 violations every day. Verified incidents of child death or injury from March to September are almost five times higher than 2014 totals.

2. Basic survival

Millions of people in Yemen need assistance to ensure their basic survival. An estimated 14.4 million are food insecure (including 7.6 million severely food insecure); 19.3 million lack adequate access to clean water or sanitation; and nearly 320,000 children are severely acutely malnourished. Conflict has exacerbated chronic vulnerabilities in all these sectors.

3. Essential services

The collapse of basic services in Yemen continues to accelerate. Partners estimate that 14.1 million people lack sufficient access to healthcare; 3 million children and pregnant or lactating women require malnutrition treatment or preventive services; and 1.8 million children have been out of school since mid-March. Solid waste removal has come to a halt in several areas. Service availability is rapidly contracting due to direct impact of conflict and insufficient resources to pay salaries or maintain services.

4. Effects of displacement

Partners estimate that 2.3 million are currently displaced within Yemen – about half of whom are in Aden, Taizz, Hajjah and Al Dhale’e governorates – and an additional 121,000 have fled the country. About 2.7 million people now require support to secure shelter or essential household supplies, including IDPs and vulnerable host families. IDPs are currently sheltering in 260 schools, preventing access to education for 13,000 children.

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs: To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.