Yemen has been engulfed in a complex crisis for over a decade. Although large‑scale fighting has eased since a UN‑brokered truce in 2022, the country remains deeply fragmented, economically devastated, and vulnerable to renewed conflict, including spillover from wider Middle East tensions. The humanitarian impact is severe: nearly half of the population need aid.
What is the crisis in Yemen?
Yemen is enduring one of the most protracted and devastating crises in recent history, as years of political instability and armed conflict continue to take a heavy toll on the population and the region.
Since unrest erupted in 2011, the country has been locked in a complex political and humanitarian crisis that has uprooted millions, decimated the economy, and left basic services in ruins.
Yemen’s crisis began after the 2011 Arab Spring, which led to a fragile political transition. In 2014–2015, the Houthi movement (Ansar Allah) seized the capital, Sana’a, forcing the internationally recognised government to flee. This escalated into a full-scale war when a Saudi‑led coalition intervened militarily in March 2015 to restore the government.
Since then, Yemen has been fragmented between the Houthi-controlled areas in the north and west, government‑controlled areas, backed by regional actors, and areas controlled by other armed groups, including the UAE‑backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the south. The STC attempted to seize control of all of southern and eastern Yemen in late 2025, before being repelled by a counteroffensive launched by government forces supported by Saudi Arabia. Dissolved in January 2026, the CTS no longer controls any territory, but tensions persist in the south, where the government is still struggling to fully consolidate its authority.
The conflict is both internal and regional, influenced by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran, and, since 2023, wider Middle East tensions affecting the Red Sea.
Humanitarian crises
After more than 15 years of unrest and war, Yemen faces extreme humanitarian suffering:
- 19.5 million people (over half the population) need humanitarian assistance in 2025–2026
- 18.3 million are acutely food insecure
- Over 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished
- Only about 59% of health facilities are fully functional.
Repeated airstrikes, shelling, landmines, economic collapse, and climate shocks such as floods and droughts have devastated livelihoods and infrastructure. (see here and here)
Despite massive needs, the UN reports that Yemen’s 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan was only 25% funded, forcing cuts to food aid, health services, and protection programs.
What is the UN doing about it?
The UN plays three main roles in Yemen: peace mediation, humanitarian assistance, and human rights advocacy.
Peace mediation: The UN Secretary‑General’s Special Envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, leads diplomacy between Yemeni parties and regional actors. The UN seeks a nationwide ceasefire and an inclusive Yemeni‑led political process. A UN‑brokered truce in April 2022 significantly reduced large‑scale fighting, and frontlines have been mostly stable since. However there is no comprehensive peace agreement and economic warfare continues.
The UN repeatedly stresses that what exists is “relative calm, not peace”. Since late 2023, the Houthis have launched attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea, saying they are linked to the Gaza war. These attacks prompted US and allied airstrikes in Yemen, raising fears that Yemen could be pulled back into major war.
Humanitarian response: Through agencies such as OCHA, WFP, UNICEF, WHO, UNHCR, and IOM, the UN provides food assistance to millions, treats severe child malnutrition, supports health clinics, water systems, and disease control, and assists over four million internally displaced people.
The UN also coordinates NGOs and manages pooled funding like the Yemen Humanitarian Fund to reach the most vulnerable.
Human rights: The UN also documents violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including airstrikes hitting civilians, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances and recruitment of child soldiers.
Yemen’s crisis is not just a war, but a prolonged collapse of governance, economy, and basic services. The UN is indispensable—keeping millions alive, preventing wider war, and offering a diplomatic pathway—but it cannot impose peace without political will from Yemeni parties and sustained international support