Yemen: Houthi siege, cholera outbreak and aid cuts put civilians in the crosshairs

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz is facing a “devastating” humanitarian crisis as escalating tensions are dramatically driving up food prices and causing shortages of supplies, the UN Spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city, has been a major battleground between the Iran-backed Houthis and the internationally recognised Saudi-backed Yemeni government since the start of the war in 2014. 

The Houthis have besieged the city since 2015 but tightened their blockade at the start of this month when they took control of the last main road between Taiz and other government-held areas. 

The development is part of a broader offensive the Houthis launched in early September to seize key territory along Yemen’s south-western Red Sea coast. 

Supplies plummet, prices rocket 

Current wheat and flour supplies in Taiz could run out in less than three weeks, while food prices have reportedly risen about 50 per cent and cooking gas has become largely unavailable, the UN warns. 

Petrol prices have also tripled and fuel shortages are putting water supply and health services at risk. 

“We continue to urge [the parties] to…uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law and to refrain from direct attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure and take constant care to spare both civilians and the infrastructure they use,” The UN’s Stéphane Dujarric stressed on Tuesday. 

Disease outbreaks

At the same time, across the country, escalating conflict and mass displacement have disrupted health services and pushed people into overcrowded shelters with inadequate access to safe water. 

As a consequence, Yemen is seeing a surge in cholera – an acute and potentially fatal intestinal infection, which mostly spreads through water or food contaminated by human faeces. 

The country has reported 8,034 suspected cholera cases and 27 deaths this year, with a quarter of them occurring in the last four weeks.

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Since August, 200,000 people have been displaced, which the UN’s health organization WHO notes coincides with a sharp increase in cholera transmission. 

Children also face serious risks from measles, with more than 22,800 suspected cases and 128 deaths reported this year. 

Vaccination coverage, at an estimated 45 per cent for each of the two recommended doses, is critically low in Yemen, increasing the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Health services under strain 

Health facilities, which are already treating thousands of people injured in the fighting, are struggling to keep up with the growing disease burden. 

Approximately 500 health facilities across nine affected governorates lack partner support, the WHO found. 

The agency is working with the Yemeni government to strengthen surveillance, testing and treatment, but its 90-day emergency response is critically underfunded. It needs $31 million and has received just $4.3 million, less than 14 per cent of the total.

“Without urgent funding and unimpeded access to safe water, vaccination and essential health services, outbreaks could spread rapidly among already vulnerable communities,” said WHO official Dr Annette Heinzelmann.