Save the Children in Yemen
Save the Children has been working in Yemen since 1963, focusing on improving children's education, health, and protection. Amid the ongoing conflict since 2015, the organization has significantly expanded its humanitarian efforts, reaching over 7 million children with life-saving support.
Save the Children addresses critical needs in health, nutrition, education, protection, food security, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Its initiatives also include running mobile health clinics, rehabilitating schools, providing psychosocial support, and delivering cash assistance to families.
Despite immense challenges, including funding shortfalls and a collapsing infrastructure, Save the Children continues to advocate for children's rights and provide essential services, ensuring the most vulnerable in Yemen are protected and supported.
The situation for children in Yemen
Nearly a decade of conflict has plunged Yemen into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with 19.5 million people, including 10 million children, in need of assistance in 2025.
Food insecurity affects over 17 million people, nearly half the population—with 5 million facing emergency levels and 55% of children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition. The education crisis has left 3.2 million children out of school, while 4.8 million people are internally displaced, making Yemen the fifth-largest displacement crisis globally.
Yemen’s collapsing health system, with only 40% of facilities operational, has fueled disease outbreaks like cholera and acute watery diarrhea, leaving 17 million without adequate water. Over 5 million people live with disabilities, including 21% of children aged 5–17, and 40% of displacement sites are at risk of fire or flooding due to Yemen’s climate vulnerability. Economic collapse has pushed food, fuel, and basic goods beyond reach for much of the population, with 80% living in multidimensional poverty.
The 2025 global funding cuts have further worsened the situation. Humanitarian funding for Yemen in 2025 has reached its lowest point in a decade of conflict, leaving critical gaps in food security, health, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services. Urgent international action is required to address these needs and safeguard the future of Yemen’s children and families.
Reem*, 8 months, is a malnourished child in Taiz, Yemen. She receives treatment at a Save the Children centre. The centre where she receives treatment is due to be closed by the end of March 2025 due to the foreign aid cuts. Reem* continues to improve after filming this content and before publishing. AL-BARAA MANSOOR/ Save the Children
Our impact for children in Yemen Since 2015
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News & Stories
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Recent data reveals that Yemen is now the world's third biggest food crisis, with half of its population facing hunger, and nearly half of all children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition. On World Food Day, international and national organizations in Yemen are calling for urgent action to address the escalating hunger crisis in the country.
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Joint NGO Statement UNGA 80: Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis Must Not Be Forgotten
As world leaders gather in New York for the 80th UN General Assembly, we, the undersigned humanitarian organizations working in Yemen, urge urgent and decisive action to address the worsening crisis in Yemen threatening to push millions of families past the brink of catastrophe. Yemen’s crisis has stripped people down to the most basic of needs – making every day a struggle for survival.