Yemen conflict 2026: What you need to know

“More than eight families are living in this place. Because of overcrowding, I have no choice but to sleep on the rooftop at night, exposed to the cold. All we hope for is tents that can ease the congestion and give families a little space and dignity,” says Abdo, a newly displaced person in Taiz.

“Our lives are filled with hardship. There are no toilets and no firewood to cook food. My daughter went to collect firewood and fell from a hillside. She is now in intensive care, and we do not know whether she will live or die,” Morada adds.

Women and girls face the heaviest burden

U.N. agencies estimate around 2,000 pregnant women are currently on the move. The escalation has displaced more than 57,000 children, and nearly 8,000 are out of school.

“Women displaced from their homes in Yemen are struggling to feed their families, find clean water, and care for their children,” says Iman Abdullahi, CARE Yemen country director. “Pregnant and breastfeeding women face difficulties getting the food and health care they need, and many have had to travel a long way to reach safety.”

“Some families are sheltering in places without toilets, private washing spaces, or lighting at night. Women need support that protects their health, safety, and dignity. This is what they are telling us they need,” Abdullahi adds.

At a displacement site in Aden, CARE colleagues met pregnant women who had arrived undernourished after long journeys, as well as mothers with newborn infants who should have been resting and recovering. One woman told CARE colleagues she had only the clothes she was wearing. Another had fled just two weeks after giving birth. She arrived after an exhausting journey, with her baby unwell.

“I visited displaced women and children living in makeshift shelters and tents in the rain. They lack shelter, clothing, and food,” says a CARE partner at a Yemeni civil society organization on Sept. 17. “The immediate priority for women and girls is dignity kits together with basic shelter.” (Dignity kits contain essential personal hygiene items — such as soap, sanitary pads, towel, and underwear — that help women and girls maintain health and privacy during crises.)

Health threats compound the risk further. WHO has confirmed more than 7,800 cholera cases across Yemen this year, with alerts already raised at displacement sites in Aden. An acute watery diarrhea outbreak has also been reported in displacement settlements in Abyan and Ad Dali’. Without hygiene supplies and safe shelter, women and children face severe health risks.

In Lahj and Aden, a growing proportion of displaced households are headed by widows or mothers who fled alone with their children — many with no income and no male family member to help navigate the displacement.

“I never thought we would make it here alive. What we lived through felt like the Day of Judgment,” Morada says. “Even now, in this displacement site, I still do not feel safe. The war continues, and any sense of security is gone.”

Why the funding gap makes everything harder

The 2026 response plan for Yemen calls for $2.16 billion to reach 12 million people. As of mid-year, only around 20% had been secured — the lowest funding level in a decade. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Yemen operation received just $34 million of the $194 million required, even before the latest escalation. Women-led organizations are often among the first to reach affected women, but many are operating with severely limited and uncertain funding.

The WFP warns that nearly three in four households in accessible areas of Yemen are now unable to meet their basic food needs, the highest level recorded this year. Fighting has also cut off aid access to around 350,000 people across parts of Taiz and Hodeidah, according to WFP.

Displacement is still growing, with no sign of the fighting easing.

“As displacement continues to grow and needs emerge across the country, humanitarian organizations must have safe access and the flexibility to respond quickly and reach people wherever assistance is needed,” says Abdullahi.

How CARE is responding to the Yemen conflict displacement

CARE has maintained a dedicated office and a team in Taiz since 2013, operating across six of the governorate’s 23 districts. When the escalation began, programs were already running across food, health, and education — all three have had to adapt. WFP food distributions to Taiz City have stalled due to road blockades, with CARE working to shift to cash assistance so families can still be reached. All 12 schools CARE had been supporting through the Education Cannot Wait program are now being used for military purposes, with children losing access to education.

With teams already embedded across Taiz, CARE was able to act from day one. CARE has delivered multipurpose cash assistance to more than 800 newly displaced families in Taiz. Through a WFP program targeting newly displaced people, CARE has also distributed food assistance to 1,564 households across five districts. In Aden, in southern Yemen, 300 women received dignity kits. CARE is also preparing to distribute non-food item kits across Lahj, prioritizing female-headed households, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers.

Markets near the frontlines have been closing for extended periods, further cutting off access to essential supplies. WFP market monitoring found that diesel prices in Taiz have risen by 500% compared with pre-crisis levels, and the price of wheat flour has doubled. Road closures have since triggered further price increases in food and cooking gas, with all entry and exit routes to Taiz City now closed.

“In Taiz, families are rushing to buy essential food amid disruption to key roads and uncertainty about supplies. There are also concerns that fuel shortages could affect water pumping and hospital generators, making an already difficult situation harder for families,” says Abdullahi.

To understand what displaced people — especially women — need most, CARE has already conducted a rapid analysis, speaking directly with women and men across displacement sites. That work is guiding everything from where distributions happen to what supplies are included.

CARE is also working with local women’s rights organizations in Aden and Abyan to reach women and girls who may not access larger distribution points. At Batees Health Center in Abyan, CARE is providing emergency obstetric care and clean delivery kits, alongside nutrition support for women in Taiz.

“My message to decision-makers and to the world is this: women and girls displaced from Taiz do not need sympathy alone. They need real protection and tangible support that secures a safe and dignified life for them,” says a CARE partner at a Yemeni civil society organization.

CARE is appealing for additional funding to reach approximately 1,500 households across Taiz, Lahj, and Aden with cash assistance, clean water, shelter, and health care.

For mothers like Morada, that support cannot come soon enough. “Right now, all I hope for is food assistance, cooking gas, and mattresses for my family,” Morada says.

CARE in Yemen: CARE has been working in Yemen since 1992, initially supporting refugees fleeing regional conflict. Since fighting escalated in 2015, CARE has delivered humanitarian assistance to people affected by displacement, loss of livelihoods, and ongoing conflict. Over more than three decades, CARE has built deep community networks and local expertise across seven governorates — giving it the presence and relationships needed to respond rapidly when a new crisis unfolds. Between July 2025 and June 2026, CARE Yemen reached 1,459,542 people — 54% of them women — with food security and livelihoods, water, sanitation, and hygiene, protection support for women and girls, health, and education support and services.