For the past decade, Yemen has stood as one of the world’s gravest humanitarian disasters, with millions of its population -- in need of aid.
Now funding cuts, US and Israeli air strikes, are intensifying an already dire situation, according to aid groups and experts.
In January, the United States re-designated the Iranian-backed Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization. Two months later, it halted all US humanitarian aid to the country.
Simultaneously, US and Israeli forces launched strikes on ports and airports in an effort to disrupt Houthi supply chains after the group fired drones and missiles at American and Israeli targets.
“It is almost impossible for any humanitarian organization to bring food and aid to Houthi-controlled areas because banks don’t want to get in trouble with the US government over sanctions violations,” said Bernd Kaussler, a professor at James Madison University and Yemen expert.
“The cutting-off of aid and designating the Houthis a terrorist organization -- that has really condemned all Yemenis to an absolute catastrophe,” he said.
Ahead of the seventh Humanitarian Meeting in Brussels, more than 110 aid organizations urged world leaders to ramp up support for Yemen, warning that 2025 could be the worst year since the civil war erupted in 2014.
The UN’s $2.48 billion Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan for 2025 was less than 10 percent funded going into the May 22 meeting. The European Union pledged €80 million ($91 million) at the summit but that still leaves the plan less than 15 percent funded with seven months to go.
Years of fighting have devastated the economy, pushed millions to the brink of famine, and left more than half of the 377,000 conflict-related deaths in the first seven years of war tied to hunger or lack of medical care, according to the UN.
Nearly half of all Yemeni children under 5 are stunted due to malnutrition, the UN said.
Until recently, the United States was Yemen’s largest donor, contributing nearly $5.9 billion in aid over the past decade -- more than triple that of the EU. But that support has now stopped.
Soon after taking office, President Donald Trump moved to dismantle the US Agency for International Development, redirecting foreign humanitarian and developmental aid to align with policy goals. Although most humanitarian programs were later reinstated, Yemen and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan were excluded.
In cutting off Yemen, US officials voiced concerns that aid was being diverted by the Houthis, who control access to aid within the territory they hold.
In June 2024, they arrested 13 UN staff and several other aid workers during coordinated raids. Human rights groups say the Houthis since 2014 have arbitrarily detained and tortured hundreds of civilians, including humanitarian workers, many of whom have never been seen again.
That has had a chilling effect on aid organizations operating or seeking to operate in Yemen.