By early 2026, over 18 million people across Yemen are expected to face crisis levels of hunger, including approximately 41,000 at risk of famine, according to a recent press release signed on World Food Day (16 October 2025) by more than 30, international and national organizations in Yemen.
The organizations while describing the situation in Yemen as “rapidly deteriorating” called for urgent action to address the escalating hunger crisis across the country, where families are now being driven into impossible choices — parents are skipping meals so their children can eat, selling off land, livestock, or their few belongings just to survive.
The press release read “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”.
Over 100 districts now face a critical nutrition emergency, an unprecedented increase in malnutrition levels across the country. In Abs District, Hajjah, children have died of starvation as malnutrition rates soared, while in Al Hodeida and Taiz, a projected 15 - 30 percent rise in acute malnutrition is expected by the end of the year.
The impacts of the current crisis are inter generational. Children are among the hardest hit — losing not only their health, as hunger robs them of their physical and cognitive development, increasing lifelong health risks, but also their hopes for the future. As families struggle to survive, many have been forced to take their children out of school, send them to work, or marry them off early, exposing them to further risks.