Renewed Yemen fighting drives child hunger and mass displacement

UNICEF’s recent screening in areas where humanitarian access remains possible shows that more than one in four children are acutely malnourished, and around 200 are classified as severely malnourished. Since September 3, at least 15 children have been killed, 14 injured and three are still missing, largely from shelling. The agency warns that these figures are only a glimpse of a broader emergency, with projections for the year indicating that more than 2.2 million children under five could become acutely malnourished and over half a million may suffer severe acute malnutrition in the population.

Nearly 130,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the past three weeks, including an estimated 71,000 children. The bulk of this movement originates from the southwestern Taiz governorate, where blocked roads and ongoing combat prevent families from reaching safer zones. Displaced families now live in makeshift tents, without income, regular food or medicine, and report a loss of dignity. The combination of shelter loss and livelihood disruption intensifies the nutrition emergency, leaving children especially vulnerable to hunger and disease. Limited access to clean water further compounds health risks for the displaced population.

The World Health Organization reports that UN health operations have been suspended in 90 of the 105 priority districts in northern Yemen, curtailing essential services such as outpatient consultations, skilled deliveries and child health care. Because 65‑70 % of children now lack safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, many are left without routine vaccinations and treatment for preventable illnesses. Outbreaks of measles, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea and cholera are spreading rapidly, overwhelming the limited facilities that remain functional and deepening the crisis for already malnourished children. Health workers report shortages of medicines and staff, further limiting response capacity.