Yemen: Severity of humanitarian crisis cannot become the new norm - OCHA Briefing | United Nations

Briefing by Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, on the situation in the Middle East. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher told the Security Council that the “unacceptable severity” of Yemen’s humanitarian crisis “cannot become the new norm,” but lamented that funding shortages have “crippled” humanitarian operations. Fletcher, for his part told the Council that Yemenis “face impossible, daily choices: food or medicine, education or work, survival or displacement,” and stressed that “the toll on women and girls is particularly alarming.” Nearly 11 million women and girls require humanitarian support in Yemen, including 5.5 million women of reproductive age and over 750,000 pregnant women. He told the Council that “over half the population is experiencing acute food insecurity” as six million people “face emergency levels of deprivation, bordering on famine.” Fletcher said, “we know that aid saves lives. In 2025, we reached an average of 5.3 million people monthly in Yemen.” With the humanitarian appeal just barely 20 percent funded, he added, “the calculation is simple: when funding drops, rations are cut, clinics close, and protection services disappear.”


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