Introduction

Funding for Yemen's humanitarian response has declined markedly since 2019. That year, the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) received $3.6 billion of the $4.2 billion required. In 2020, funding fell to $2 billion against a requirement of $3.4 billion, before recovering modestly in 2021 to $2.4 billion of the $3.9 billion required. In 2022, funding stood at $2.2 billion against a requirement of $4.3 billion, reflecting a widening gap between humanitarian needs and the resources available to fund the response.  ^([1])

The funding shortfall persisted in subsequent years. In 2023, funding amounted to only around $1.7 billion against a requirement of $4.34 billion. ^([2]) By May 2024, the HRP, which required $2.7 billion, had received just $435 million, prompting humanitarian organisations to warn of delays, reductions and suspensions affecting life-saving assistance programmes. ^([3]) In 2025, Yemen's HRP required approximately $2.5 billion, while the funding received amounted to only around $700 million. ^([4])

The funding gap persisted in 2026, with requirements of $2.16 billion compared with $580.1 million in funding provided through the plan. ^([5])

Against the backdrop of this widening funding gap in the humanitarian response, this paper examines the trajectory of declining funding and its implications for the scale of assistance and the most vulnerable groups. It then assesses the impact on the ability of Yemen's most vulnerable households to meet their basic needs and the coping strategies they have adopted in response.

First: The Trajectory and Drivers of Declining Humanitarian Funding

Humanitarian funding for Yemen has undergone significant shifts in recent years, affecting both the volume of resources available for the humanitarian response and donor priorities.

This trajectory reflects a combination of international, financial and political factors that have contributed to the decline in funding and the redirection of some resources towards other priorities and channels.

1. Changes in the International Humanitarian Funding Environment

The decline in funding for Yemen's humanitarian response has unfolded against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive international funding environment, marked by donor fatigue, competing crises and shrinking humanitarian aid budgets. ^([6])

At the same time, global attention has shifted towards other crises, intensifying competition for humanitarian resources as funding for the response in Yemen has declined. ^([7])

2. Declining Funding from Major Donors to the Humanitarian Response

This broader decline is also evident in the funding provided by several major donors to Yemen's humanitarian response. In the United Kingdom, humanitarian funding for Yemen fell sharply between 2020 and 2022, from £158.7 million in 2020 to £79.9 million in 2021 and £46.6 million in 2022, before partially recovering to £61.2 million in 2023. ^([8])

European Union humanitarian funding followed a similar downward trajectory, declining from €170 million in 2022 to €145.12 million in 2023, ^([9]) before falling further to €125 million in 2024 and €120 million in 2025. ^([10])

In the United States, previously the largest donor to Yemen's humanitarian response, the decline in funding became far more pronounced in 2025 after President Donald Trump's administration decided to scale back foreign assistance programmes.

According to UN data cited by Reuters, US aid to Yemen amounted to just $15 million as of April 2025, compared with approximately $768 million in 2024. The cuts also included the termination of most remaining US assistance to Yemen, marking a shift that demonstrated the direct impact of the new US policies on funding for the country's humanitarian response. ^([11])

3. The Redirection of Some Support to Other Channels

In recent years, Saudi and Emirati support for Yemen has extended beyond funding the humanitarian response, encompassing humanitarian, development, economic and institutional channels, some of which have received substantial resources outside the framework of humanitarian response plans.

In 2023, the United Arab Emirates provided approximately $164.5 million in total assistance to Yemen. Of this amount, $146.9 million, or around 89.3%, was allocated to development assistance, compared with just $17 million for humanitarian assistance.  ^([12])

In Saudi Arabia's case, humanitarian projects implemented in Yemen by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) in 2024 amounted to approximately $159.8 million. ^([13]) In December of the same year, the Kingdom announced $500 million in economic support to bolster the Yemeni government's budget and support the Central Bank of Yemen (CBY). ^([14])

This distribution indicates that support for Yemen is no longer channelled exclusively through the humanitarian response, but is instead spread across multiple priorities and channels, not all of which are counted towards funding for humanitarian response plans.

Second: How Has the Decline in Funding Affected Humanitarian Response Programmes?

The funding crisis has evolved from a financial shortfall into a factor shaping the humanitarian response itself. The impact of underfunding is no longer confined to the gap between needs and available resources; it increasingly affects the scale, scope, and continuity of humanitarian programmes, as well as humanitarian actors' ability to sustain the services they provide to those most in need.

1. Contraction in the Scope of Humanitarian Programmes and Services

Declining funding has begun to affect the scope of the humanitarian response itself. The funding gap is no longer confined to constraints on available resources; it now extends to the scale of programmes and services humanitarian organisations can sustain.

In Yemen, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reduced its cash assistance programme by 25% in 2024. As a result, more than 21,000 internally displaced and refugee households are struggling to meet their basic needs.  ^([15])

The impact has not been limited to reductions in the scale of programmes. In some cases, it has resulted in the closure of services and facilities that were already providing assistance.

By the end of March 2025, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had been forced to reduce its humanitarian services in reproductive health and gender-based violence by around 40%, leaving approximately 1.5 million women without access to life-saving services. Ten safe spaces for women and girls were also closed.  ^([16])

2. Decline the Value and Quality of Humanitarian Services and Assistance

The impact of declining humanitarian funding has extended beyond reductions in the scale of programmes and services to affect both the amount of assistance beneficiaries receive and the quality of the services available to them. In the area of food assistance, funding shortfalls have resulted in less regular distributions and reduced rations.

Between January and July 2024, the World Food Programme (WFP) carried out only two general food assistance distribution cycles because of severe shortages in humanitarian funding and food stocks.

By August, assistance was reaching around 3.6 million people, with rations providing just 358–400 kilocalories per person per day, equivalent to 17% of the reference ration and well below the recommended level of 1,600 kilocalories. ^([17])

3. Reprioritisation of Humanitarian Assistance and Services

The impact of declining funding has extended beyond reducing the scale of the humanitarian response to reshaping how priorities are set and resources allocated.

Yemen's 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan describes the response as "focused and prioritised". It targets approximately 12 million people, of whom 9.4 million have been identified to receive targeted assistance based on the severity of need, with $1.6 billion allocated to life-saving interventions for the most vulnerable groups. ^([18])

Within this more constrained funding environment, humanitarian actors, including UNICEF, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), are reprioritising their interventions by targeting high-risk areas and integrating interventions across food security, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and protection, with the aim of maximising their life-saving impact. This reprioritisation comes amid substantial funding cuts that led the United Nations to scale back critical life-saving programmes during the final months of 2025. ^([19])

This shift is not confined to international humanitarian actors, but extends to local organisations as well. With resources increasingly constrained, organisations have been compelled to focus on the most urgent interventions, including food assistance, protection, shelter and emergency cash assistance. In some cases, funding shortages have led to services being scaled back or interventions related to recovery, livelihoods and the empowerment of women and young people being postponed.  ^([20])

The effects of this shift are also evident in some health projects in Yemen. A reduction in funding for one project supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) resulted in staff numbers falling from around 90 to 65, while the number of Ministry of Health personnel supported by the organisation declined from approximately 250 to 150. The scope of services was also reduced. The paediatric department was handed over to the Ministry of Health, with MSF ending its support, while the maternity department narrowed its focus to emergency cases, with other cases referred to the Ministry of Health.  ^([21])

Third: The Impact of Declining Funding on Humanitarian Assistance and Services in Yemen

The impact of declining humanitarian funding in Yemen has extended beyond reducing the overall scale of the response and narrowing the scope of programmes and projects. It has also affected people's access to food, healthcare and essential services, as well as the level of protection and support available to the most vulnerable groups. These effects are evident across four key areas:

1. Worsening Humanitarian Crisis:

Declining funding has constrained humanitarian organisations' ability to continue providing assistance to millions of people in need. In May 2025, 116 aid organisations operating in Yemen reported that the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan was less than 10% funded, preventing vital assistance from reaching millions of people across the country. ^([22])

As severe funding constraints persisted, substantial cuts forced the United Nations to scale back critical life-saving programmes during the final months of 2025. At the same time, Yemen's 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan indicates that more than 22 million people will require humanitarian assistance and protection services during the year.  ^([23])

2. Deteriorating Food Security and Nutrition

A food security analysis covering July to September 2024 found that approximately 4.7 million people in areas under Yemeni government control faced high levels of acute food insecurity, including 1.2 million people classified in the Emergency phase. In some areas classified in this phase, between 23% and 60% of households experienced severe food deprivation, alongside substantial food consumption gaps and high levels of acute malnutrition.  ^([24])

3. Declining Health and Essential Services

The impact of declining funding has also extended to health services. By the end of March 2025, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) had been forced to reduce its emergency reproductive health services and services for the prevention of and response to violence against women and girls by around 40%, leaving approximately 1.5 million women without access to life-saving services. Ten safe spaces for women and girls were also closed, and more than 400 staff working at these centres lost their jobs.  ^([25])

At the field level, the impact of declining humanitarian support has extended beyond reductions in medical services to the health of households in affected areas. Healthcare providers have reported an increase in cases of malnutrition, miscarriages, premature births, fetal deaths and some congenital abnormalities, amid difficult economic conditions that constrain households' ability to meet their basic needs and access healthcare.  ^([26])

4. Growing Vulnerability of Displaced and Low-Income Households

Declining humanitarian funding has intensified the pressures facing displaced and low-income households, as livelihood opportunities have diminished and access to cash assistance and essential services has become increasingly difficult.

Funding constraints have also led to reductions in some interventions targeting the most vulnerable households, including training, skills development, economic empowerment and small-grant programmes, limiting households' ability to develop sustainable sources of income. ^([27])

This is consistent with a joint statement by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF, which noted that displaced people, low-income rural households and the most vulnerable children face heightened vulnerability as a result of funding cuts, declining livelihood opportunities and weakened coping mechanisms. ^([28])

Fourth: How the Most Vulnerable Households Are Coping with Declining Assistance

As assistance has declined, the most vulnerable households have had to reorder their priorities to adapt to increasingly limited resources while meeting basic needs. In response to these pressures, they have adopted a range of coping strategies:

1. Shifting to Less Preferred and Less Expensive Foods

One strategy adopted by households facing resource constraints has been to shift to less preferred and less expensive foods. UNHCR monitoring during the first half of 2024 found that 83.1% of households unable to meet their daily food needs had resorted to this strategy.

2. Reducing Portion Sizes and the Number of Meals

Households have adapted not only by changing the types of food they consume, but also by eating less. Among households unable to meet their daily food needs, 67.9% reduced portion sizes, while 60.7% reduced the number of meals they consumed. ^([29])

3. Borrowing to Meet Basic Needs

As available resources have become increasingly constrained, 77% of displaced households resorted to borrowing to purchase essential goods in 2024.  ^([30])This pattern is also reflected in the account of one displaced household, which described being forced to borrow after the monthly food assistance it had previously received was discontinued. The assistance had provided the household with flour, oil, sugar, lentils and other essential food items. The household reported that losing this assistance led to mounting debt, as it had neither a salary nor any other income and struggled to secure enough food. ^([31])

4. Postponing Basic Needs, Including Healthcare

Coping strategies have extended beyond changes in food consumption and borrowing to postponing other basic needs, including healthcare. The difficulty of affording treatment is reflected in patients seeking hospital care when examinations and medicines are provided free of charge, but remaining at home despite illness or pain when these services are not available without charge. ^([32])

5. Children Contributing to Household Support

In some cases, the search for ways to meet basic household needs has extended to children themselves. Some families have been compelled to send their children to work to help cover living expenses, and some children have consequently left school because of the demands of work. ^([33])

6. Women Assuming Additional Responsibilities as Assistance Declines

As assistance has declined, some women have taken on additional responsibilities alongside caring for their families and managing their households. They have turned to income-generating activities, including making incense and perfumes, sewing, and cleaning homes, to help meet their families' needs as sources of income and assistance have diminished. ^([34])

These experiences are consistent with those documented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which reported that displaced women in camps in Marib had learned incense-making as a means of earning an income and supporting their families.  ^([35])

Fifth: Consequences of Household Coping Strategies

As humanitarian assistance declines, the coping strategies adopted by vulnerable households can themselves generate a range of consequences, affecting their ability to meet basic needs and maintain acceptable levels of well-being and stability. The severity of these consequences varies according to the strategy adopted and households' capacity to absorb its effects, as outlined below:

1. Delayed Access to Healthcare

One strategy adopted by households struggling to afford treatment is to endure illness and delay seeking healthcare. Such delays can have serious health consequences. An ACAPS report indicates that some households do not seek healthcare until a patient's condition becomes critical, by which point it may be too late to save their life. ^([36])

2. Adverse Effects on Health and Nutrition

Reducing the number or size of meals, coupled with an inability to meet nutritional needs, can adversely affect household health and nutrition, with the most vulnerable groups facing particularly acute risks. These consequences are especially serious given Yemen's already fragile nutritional situation. A joint statement by UNICEF, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that approximately 2.4 million children under the age of five and 1.5 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were acutely malnourished, placing them at heightened risk of illness, stunted growth and death. ^([37])

3. Declining School Attendance among Children

Sending children to work to support the household is one coping strategy some families adopt, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) identifies it as harmful.  ^([38])This can undermine children's continued participation in education. UNICEF notes that children's involvement in work makes it difficult for them to catch up on the schooling they have missed.  ^([39])

4. Borrowing: An Additional Burden on Households

Borrowing can help households meet immediate needs as assistance declines, but it can become an added burden when the need to borrow persists. UNHCR notes that reliance on debt leaves displaced households more vulnerable, constraining their economic independence and their ability to improve their living conditions. ^([40])

Conclusion

This paper demonstrates that the impact of declining humanitarian funding in Yemen extends beyond the widening gap between humanitarian needs and available resources. Funding constraints have also reshaped the humanitarian response itself, affecting its scale and the scope of services available to those most in need.

Reduced funding has led to the scaling back of programmes and services and the reprioritisation of the humanitarian response, with greater emphasis placed on life-saving interventions and the groups facing the most acute needs.

The analysis also shows that the consequences of declining funding extend beyond humanitarian organisations and programmes to the households that depend on this assistance and these services to meet their basic needs.

As support has declined, displaced and low-income households have become increasingly vulnerable, forcing them to reorder their spending priorities and adopt a range of coping strategies. Rather than offering sustainable solutions, these strategies shift part of the burden of declining assistance onto households themselves, with consequences for their health and nutrition, their children's education and their economic resilience.

Continued reliance on these coping strategies may, in turn, increase the economic and social burdens on households and weaken their capacity to withstand recurrent crises.

Declining humanitarian funding, therefore, cannot be viewed merely as a financial shortfall. It also affects the humanitarian response's capacity to sustain essential services and the ability of the most vulnerable households to meet their basic needs and cope with deteriorating living conditions.

The consequences of the funding gap cannot therefore be measured solely by the volume of resources that fail to reach the humanitarian response. They must also be assessed in terms of the resulting contraction in the scope of services and the mounting pressures placed on the most vulnerable households.

Recommendations

The study proposes a set of recommendations for the key actors involved in Yemen's humanitarian response and recovery, as follows:

First: The Internationally Recognised Yemeni Government

1. Integrate Priority Humanitarian Needs into Government Planning and the National Budget

Integrate priority humanitarian needs into government planning and the national budget by defining a minimum package of essential services whose continuity must be maintained across health, education, water, nutrition and social protection. Funding for these services should not depend almost entirely on external humanitarian assistance.

2. Establish a Unified National System for Monitoring Needs and Vulnerability

Establish a unified national system for monitoring needs and vulnerability that integrates data on food security, health, education, displacement and income and allows needs indicators to be updated regularly. Such a system would help identify the population groups and geographical areas most exposed to the effects of aid cuts and enable resources to be directed towards them according to clear criteria.

3. Expand Shock-Responsive Social Protection

Expand shock-responsive social protection programmes, prioritising households that experience a sudden loss of income or assistance. These programmes should provide a minimum level of protection and reduce households' reliance on harmful coping strategies, such as cutting expenditure on food, healthcare or education, or resorting to excessive borrowing.

4. Establish Transitional Arrangements for Essential Humanitarian Services

Establish a national mechanism to identify humanitarian services that should not be discontinued abruptly, and work with international partners to put transitional arrangements in place when programmes are scaled back or terminated. This would help prevent the costs of sudden funding withdrawals from being transferred directly to households and local communities.

5. Facilitate Humanitarian Access and Strengthen the Regulatory Environment

Facilitate humanitarian access and strengthen the regulatory environment for local and international humanitarian operations by streamlining administrative procedures, improving institutional coordination and ensuring that assistance reaches beneficiaries according to needs-based criteria. These measures would improve how efficiently limited resources are used and help reduce coverage gaps.

Second: Civil Society Organisations

5. 1. Establish Local Mechanisms to Monitor the Household-Level Effects of Funding Cuts

Establish regular local mechanisms to monitor the effects of funding cuts on households. Monitoring should go beyond the number of programme beneficiaries to capture changes in access to food, healthcare, education and income, as well as households' use of coping strategies. The findings should be reported regularly to the relevant stakeholders.

2. Strengthen the Role of Local Organisations in Setting Humanitarian Priorities

Strengthen the role of local organisations in setting humanitarian priorities by regularly engaging affected communities in identifying needs, assessing the quality of services and identifying the unintended consequences of programme reductions, rather than limiting their participation to receiving assistance.

3. Develop Targeted, Low-Cost Interventions to Strengthen Household Resilience

Develop targeted, low-cost interventions to strengthen household resilience, particularly in livelihoods, food security and community services, focusing on the groups that monitoring data identify as most affected by declining assistance.

4. Develop Local Cross-Sector Referral Mechanisms

Develop local referral mechanisms across sectors and services so that households facing multiple needs can access available health, nutrition, protection, education and livelihood services, rather than having each need addressed in isolation.

5. Strengthen Community Accountability and Transparency

Strengthen community accountability and transparency in programme implementation by providing safe channels for complaints and feedback and making clear information available on targeting criteria and available services. This would help improve targeting accuracy and strengthen trust in the humanitarian response.

Third: International Organisations and Donors

1. Adopt Multi-Year and Flexible Humanitarian Funding

Adopt multi-year, flexible funding for Yemen's humanitarian response, allowing the scale and type of interventions to adjust as needs evolve while reducing the impact of sudden funding cuts or the expiry of short-term funding.

2. Assess the Impact Before Scaling Back or Terminating Essential Programmes

Conduct impact assessments before scaling back or terminating essential programmes, particularly in food security, nutrition, health, education, water and protection. Decisions to reduce programmes should not be driven by funding shortfalls alone; they should also consider the potential consequences for households and their coping strategies, and identify the transitional measures needed to mitigate these effects.

3. Allocate Funding According to Need and Vulnerability

Allocate funding on the basis of indicators of need and vulnerability, rather than solely according to the capacity to attract funding. Up-to-date data should be used to identify geographical and sectoral gaps and the groups most exposed to the consequences of declining assistance.

4. Link Short-Term Relief with Recovery and Resilience

Gradually shift from a short-term response model towards one that integrates relief, recovery and resilience-building by funding interventions that link immediate assistance with livelihoods, essential services and social protection. This would reduce households' dependence on assistance without exposing them to protection gaps during the transition.

5. Advance the Localisation of the Humanitarian Response

Advance the localisation of the humanitarian response in practical terms by increasing direct or long-term funding for qualified local organisations, involving them in programme design, decision-making and results assessment, and providing the technical and oversight support required to ensure quality implementation and accountability.

6. Establish a Joint Framework for Monitoring the Impact of Funding Gaps

Establish a joint framework bringing together the government, humanitarian actors, local organisations and donors to monitor the effects of funding gaps. The framework should regularly assess not only the volume of funding and assistance provided, but also the impact of changes in funding and assistance on household food security, health, education, income and coping strategies.

7. Strengthen Donor Coordination in Setting Funding Priorities

Strengthen coordination among donors in setting funding priorities to prevent resources from becoming concentrated in particular sectors or geographical areas while significant gaps emerge elsewhere. Available funding should be directed towards the sectors and areas where shortfalls are likely to have the greatest humanitarian and social consequences.

Sumayyah Al-Suraimi

Journalist and Researcher in Humanitarian Affairs