UNICEF warns of worsening acute malnutrition among children in Yemen amid the escalation of the conflict

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported today, Friday (September 25, 2026), that cases of acute malnutrition are increasing among children in Yemen, including the most serious cases, at a time when fighting in the country is disrupting access to health care and treatment centers.

“We are deeply concerned about the clear increase in acute malnutrition among children,” Akhil Iyer, UNICEF Representative in Yemen, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Aden.

Before the recent fighting, the United Nations warned that about 5 million Yemenis were suffering from a “crisis or poor levels of acute food insecurity.”

The United Nations Children's Fund announced last week that 57,000 children were displaced in Yemen within two weeks, while "243 schools were closed or learning was suspended, affecting more than 137,000 students, both male and female." She pointed out that even before the recent escalation, “3.2 million school-age children” were not enrolled in schools in the poor country witnessing conflict.

Sources in the education sector in Houthi-controlled areas reported to (DPA) that the group organizes training courses for students, which include, according to them, "weapon training" and lectures on what the group describes as "jihad and confronting aggression" against Yemen.

Commenting on the recent displacement, Obia Achinege, UNICEF Representative in Yemen, said: “This is one of the fastest and most volatile waves of displacement that Yemen has witnessed in years.” He added: "Families flee without warning shortly before the outbreak of violence, often at night, carrying only what they can carry." He added: "It is a very worrying situation because it comes in light of an already severe humanitarian crisis."

Melina Moore from the Prosper Global Humanitarian Society said that some people arriving in Taiz walked for more than 16 hours, arriving at the displacement camps exhausted and suffering from dehydration, and some children appeared to be malnourished.

Iman Abdullah, director of the CARE relief organization, said there is an urgent need for food, maternal care, infant health care, personal hygiene items, private toilets and mental health support. He added: "A woman was forced to wash her clothes and stay inside the tent until they dried because she had no other clothes. Another woman was forced to flee only two weeks after giving birth to her child."

The United Nations reported on Monday that about 130,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen since the beginning of September.

The civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis took control of most areas of northern Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year to support the internationally recognized government in Yemen. A ceasefire in 2022 largely stopped the fighting.

Hostilities broke out again last July, when the Houthis again launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, which the rebels said were an attempt to lift the siege. The attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil sector came at a time when the United States was achieving some successes in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.