The World Food Programme warned that aid across Yemen faces substantial cuts from November without new funding, adding to pressure on Taiz residents whose access to food, fuel and water is already strained by fighting.
In an Oct. 14 statement, the World Food Programme (WFP) put its funding need for food assistance and related programs at $268 million through 2027. It said fighting had prevented its teams and partners from delivering aid to more than 600,000 people who depend on it in Taiz. Its monitors found wheat flour stocks nearly exhausted in affected areas.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Oct. 20 that trucked water costs three times as much as it did before clashes intensified in September. Diesel shortages could halt pumps in UNICEF water systems serving an estimated 3 million people in Taiz, including at least 1.6 million children, the agency said. UNICEF said it was providing diesel to keep the pumps running.
United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen Laurent Bukera said road closures and insecurity were obstructing deliveries to Taiz and surrounding areas. Residents were paying more than twice as much for the food and fuel still available, he said. Taiz city was also producing half as much water, reducing access for hundreds of thousands of families.
The World Health Organization said at an Oct. 20 briefing in Geneva that 12 Taiz hospitals had an estimated four days of fuel on hand. Spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said stocks of 115 of 127 essential medicines were sufficient for about a week or less. Bukera said shortages also threatened hospital power and medical oxygen supplies.
The renewed fighting that disrupted Taiz supply routes followed the relative calm associated with a 2022 truce, the United Nations Office at Geneva said. UNICEF linked the scarcity of food and fuel to disruption along the Taiz–Aden corridor. It estimated that 120,000 people had been displaced to Taiz since the September escalation.
Bukera urged the Houthi de facto authorities to allow commercial goods and humanitarian aid into Taiz. WFP said it would have to reduce assistance across Yemen from November if new funding does not arrive.
