The United Nations has recently reduced healthcare support in Yemen due to a lack of funding. Critical aid and lifesaving food distribution has been decreased in the last few months as a result. Some of the UN’s most important humanitarian programmes in the country have also been shut down. This has had a devastating impact on Yemen, which is currently undergoing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, has responded to the situation with grave concern. She said that only $1 billion of the $3.2 billion required had been received making it “an impossible situation”. Grande also stressed that “The consequences of under-funding are immediate, enormous and devastating,”. Other UN officials have shared similar concerns for Yemen. UN envoy Martin Griffiths warned that the lack of funding could lead to Yemen slipping “back away from the road to peace”. According to Al Jazeera, two top UN officials have criticized several regional actors for failing to make good on their aid pledges, notably countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A CNN investigation revealed that Saudi Arabia’s pledged support to UN agencies in Yemen has more than halved in 2020.  Indeed, Saudi Arabia originally pledged $500 million worth of humanitarian aid  during a United Nations conference in June this year. However, the Kingdom has only contributed $231.1 million thus far, according to CNN.

Yemen is currently in desperate need of foreign aid, with 80 per cent of the population depending on humanitarian assistance, according to UNICEF. Saudi Arabia, a considerably stable and wealthy neighbor, needs to lead the way in terms of regional support for Yemen. By failing to provide its pledged aid, Saudi Arabia is setting a poor example for other regional actors. More importantly, critical relief programs are struggling to provide ample support to Yemenis due to insufficient funds. With the added implications of the coronavirus pandemic, Yemenis are extremely vulnerable to health-related issues and require reliable healthcare support.

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is largely a result of an ongoing political conflict between Houthi rebels supported by Iran, and the internationally recognized government supported by Saudi Arabia. The conflict between both parties ignited in 2014, and  led to over 130, 000  civilian casualties by the end of 2019, according to a United Nations Development Program report. Furthermore, the implications of the conflict have been extremely devastating for Yemeni children. UNICEF reported this year that 12.2 million children need humanitarian assistance, 10.2 million children have no access to basic healthcare, and 2 million children under the age of five are malnourished. These statistics alone reveal Yemen’s urgent need for foreign assistance.

The prospects for stability in Yemen are not looking promising due to the recent cuts to healthcare support. Yemeni civilians are bearing the burden of political insecurity as well as extremely poor living conditions. Likewise, Yemeni children are being exposed to a devastating crisis, with a lack of external support to mitigate the impacts. Regional actors, like Saudi Arabia, must commit to the aid pledges they made earlier this year. The effectiveness of UN humanitarian programmes in Yemen will only be re-established once necessary funding is obtained.