GENERAL SUMMARY
The escalation of conflict in Yemen is directly affecting 21 out of 22 governorates. More than 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety and security. Restrictions on commercial imports are further crippling the country, already considered the poorest in the region before conflict escalated in March.
21 million people - a staggering 80 per cent of the population - in Yemen require some form of humanitarian assistance, one third more than in 2014. Food insecurity has increased, with 12.9 million people considered food insecure, an increase of over 20 per cent in six months.
More than 20 million people lack access to safe drinking water, sanitation or hygiene services in the country, up by 52 per cent since March, due to heavy restrictions on fuel imports that are essential for maintaining water supply.
A large number of health facilities across the country have been either destroyed or damaged by the fighting. Many have closed due to lack of medicines, supplies, equipment, and fuel to run the generators as electricity has been reduced across Yemen. The economic crisis caused by the conflict means that most of the health professionals that continue to work, in the few facilities that have managed to stay open, have not been paid in months. A dengue fever outbreak, in the south and the west, is challenging health services in nine governorates as cases of measles and malaria threaten to spread. More than one million children are estimated to be acutely malnourished. More than 3,500 schools remain closed due to insecurity, depriving close to two million pupils of education opportunities.
Affected people's coping mechanisms are stretched to the limit. Safety nets are eroding as families adopt negative coping strategies in order to survive. The specific needs of women have become more acute, particularly for those who have been displaced or widowed by the conflict.
The double discrimination against displaced people belonging to minorities, such as the Muhamasheen, a marginalized group representing 10 per cent of the population, makes their position even more tenuous.
To help bolster the humanitarian response to Yemen, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), comprising UN and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), declared a level three emergency (L3) response for Yemen on 1 July. This exceptional measure aims to mobilize increased resources for an effective and timely response to the urgent needs of affected people in Yemen.