Yemen: Humanitarian Organisations Call for Immediate Action

29 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in Yemen, including Doctors of the World, call on the international community to renew its commitment to the Yemeni people. Major challenges now threaten to undermine hard-won progress and plunge millions of vulnerable individuals across the country into deeper crisis.

Doctors of the World express our deep concern at the significant deterioration in the situation in Yemen since the sixth gathering. Amid ongoing funding cuts, the country is now facing an increasingly complex and interlinked set of challenges, which have worsened since the beginning of 2025. These developments are hampering humanitarian and development efforts, making it even more difficult to reach millions of people in acute need. As frontline responders committed to serving those most in need, we remain ready to provide life-saving assistance, thanks to the generosity of our donors. In 2024, our collective efforts supported more than eight million people across Yemen.

Since the start of 2025, numerous projects have been halted, disrupting the provision of essential goods, services, and healthcare infrastructure – including hospitals. Vaccination campaigns and centres, which are particularly important for women and girls, have also been suspended. As a result, both emergency relief and longer-term support operations are now out of reach for many in need. Without swift alternatives to fill these gaps, an already dire situation will continue to deteriorate. The longer vital interventions are delayed, the more complex and costly they will be to reinstate.

We call on the international community to act now and take coordinated steps to prevent irreversible harm to millions of Yemenis. Furthermore, we urge donors to uphold a principled, impartial approach, ensuring that funding is allocated solely on the basis of urgent need, regardless of geographical location within the country.

Today, we continue to face numerous barriers that prevent us from reaching the most deprived communities. In recent months, civilian infrastructure has been destroyed in multiple locations by aerial military strikes. These attacks have occurred in a country already weakened by severely degraded systems and services. It is essential to highlight the devastating toll on civilians, including loss of life and injury. Targeting essential infrastructure only compounds economic and psychological hardship, while further limiting humanitarian actors’ ability to deliver life-saving assistance to those most at risk.

Humanitarian workers, dedicated to delivering donor-funded programmes, face increasing threats to their safety and security. As June 6th approaches, a significant number of staff from the United Nations, international NGOs, and civil society organisations remain detained – some for nearly a year. This raises serious and growing concerns for their safety and well-being.

We urge all parties to respect international humanitarian law, to protect civilians, and to refrain from targeting civilian infrastructure. We also call on Member States to prioritise both the immediate and longer-term humanitarian consequences of conflict escalation, and to amplify their calls for the protection of civilian infrastructure.

We appeal to the relevant authorities to ensure that humanitarian personnel are able to carry out their duties, and to secure the immediate and unconditional release of those detained so they may return safely to their families and normal lives.

We further call on key regional states, the international community, and influential partners to support all efforts to secure the release of detained humanitarian workers and safeguard the humanitarian space.

Our ability to provide essential services to the most vulnerable continues to be impeded by extensive sanctions regimes and a complex web of restrictive measures in northern Yemen. These include obstacles to transferring funds, limited access to banking channels, difficulties sourcing goods, and restrictions on commercial imports. The cumulative impact of these measures is felt across the entire country, threatening to seriously disrupt the supply of fuel, medicine, medical equipment, food, and other vital humanitarian assistance, as well as the functioning of essential infrastructure and services.

We urgently call on the international community to promote the establishment of broad-based humanitarian exemptions. These are critical to ensuring that aid reaches the most vulnerable, preserving the core principles of humanitarian action, and protecting the humanitarian space.

Over recent months, the Yemeni population has become increasingly vulnerable and in need of enhanced protection, even as the ability to respond diminishes. The situation affects more than two million people, including women and girls who face heightened risks. Without immediate assistance, millions of women and girls will lose access to essential services that protect them from violence and help them cope with deteriorating mental health. This puts them at greater risk of depression, self-harm, and suicide. Child marriage, human trafficking, begging, and child labour are all on the rise. Protection must not be treated as an afterthought – it must be a central pillar of every humanitarian and development effort.

We call on all Member States who attended the Senior Officials Meeting to ensure that age, gender and disability protection is placed at the heart of the collective response. Neglecting protection will only deepen the suffering of those already most in need.

Budget cuts are having a particularly damaging impact on civil society organisations (CSOs) in Yemen – especially women-led and women’s rights organisations (WLOs and WROs), many of which are now at risk of shutting down. The time has come for the humanitarian and donor communities to offer their unequivocal support to national and local NGOs – including backing the leadership of WLOs and WROs, and ensuring their meaningful, safe, and direct participation in both local and national response efforts.

We urge donors to increase direct, flexible funding for local actors, who are often the first to respond and best placed to deliver assistance. Where intermediaries are necessary, support must reinforce rather than replace local leadership, through tangible investments in collaboration, accountability, capacity-building, and risk-sharing.

Today, the stakes could not be higher. The international community must act decisively to prevent further tragedy and irreversible harm. As the suffering of the Yemeni people deepens, so too must our resolve to act swiftly and uphold the humanitarian principles we collectively stand for. We must restore hope for the people of Yemen – and we cannot abandon a population in such desperate need.