Women and girls continue to be disproportionately impacted by the humanitarian crisis as highlighted in the Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2025, with an estimated 9.6 million women and girls in need of life-saving humanitarian support, facing hunger, violence, and a collapsing healthcare system, according to a recent report published by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The report found that funding cuts and programme closures will have catastrophic consequences for the health and protection of women and girls adding that In the absence of critical funding, more than 770 health facilities will stop functioning, leaving 6.9 million people without life-saving primary and secondary healthcare services; 2.7 million women and girls of reproductive age will not be able to access maternal and reproductive healthcare, including more than 30,000 pregnant women who will require emergency obstetric care.
The latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) highlights that Yemen is facing alarmingly high levels of food insecurity, with pockets of the population projected to face IPC Phase 5 (catastrophe) by September 2025.
The food security situation is projected to worsen between September 2025 and February 2026, with 52 per cent of the population expected to face Phase 3 or above (crisis or worse). Some 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to require treatment for acute malnutrition, increasing the risks of pregnancy-related complications and the odds of giving birth to premature and low-birth weight babies – with dangerous and irreversible consequences for their survival and growth.
The report concluded that the implementation of the humanitarian response, especially for UNFPA, continues to be challenged by a lack of funding, limited humanitarian access, restrictions on the movement of female national staff, and security and bureaucratic impediments.