UN warns funding shortfall forcing cuts to lifesaving programs in Yemen

The UN warned on Wednesday that a severe funding shortfall is forcing humanitarian organizations to scale back lifesaving programs in Yemen, where its 2026 humanitarian response plan has received only 20% of the funding required. In a statement marking World Humanitarian Day, Laurent Bukera, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, urged donors to urgently provide the resources needed to sustain lifesaving assistance across the country. Bukera described Yemen's humanitarian crisis as 'one of the largest and most severe in the world,' saying millions of Yemenis remain in need of assistance. 'More than half of the country population faces acute food insecurity and half the children under the age of five and 1.3 million pregnant and lactating women are acutely malnourished,' he said in a statement published on the UN website.