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STORY: UN / YEMEN FOOD INSECURITY
TRT: 02:01
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 03 JUNE 2026, NEW YORK CITY AND KYIV, UKRAINE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
03 JUNE 2026, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. Med shot, UN spokesperson speaking
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, United Nations:
“And flagging the pretty dire situation in Yemen, today the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Food Programme, and UNICEF jointly called on the international community to urgently scale up funding for humanitarian food assistance, nutrition services, health, agriculture and resilience programming. This call comes as the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis shows that nearly 5 million people, one in two people across twelve Government-controlled areas of the country are experienced high levels of acute food insecurity between March and May of this year. The outlook sadly is expected to worsen. An estimated 5.4 million people living in the Government-controlled areas including Aden, Hadramawt, Ma’rib and Ta’iz are projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity, between June and September 2026, that is IPC Phase 3 or above, meaning people are already struggling to meet basic food needs. The agencies warned that without immediate, sustained and scaled-up action, millions of vulnerable people risk falling deeper into hunger, malnutrition and irreversible livelihood loss. And just to flag that in March, we and our humanitarian partners published the 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, seeking $2.16 billion to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to 12 million people across Yemen.”
5. Wide shot, press briefing room ending
United Nations agencies appealed for urgent international funding to address worsening hunger in Yemen, warning that millions more people could face acute food insecurity in the coming months as humanitarian needs outpace available resources.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP) and UNICEF called for increased support for food assistance, nutrition services, healthcare, agriculture and resilience programs, UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters today (3 Jun) in New York.
The appeal follows the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis, which found that nearly 5 million people — about one in every two residents across 12 government-controlled areas of Yemen — experienced high levels of acute food insecurity between March and May.
Conditions are expected to deteriorate further, the agencies said.
An estimated 5.4 million people living in government-controlled areas, including Aden, Hadramawt, Ma'rib and Ta'iz, are projected to face acute food insecurity classified as IPC Phase 3 or higher between June and September 2026. IPC Phase 3 indicates that households are struggling to meet basic food needs and may be forced to adopt crisis-level coping strategies.
The agencies warned that without immediate, sustained and scaled-up humanitarian action, millions of vulnerable Yemenis risk falling deeper into hunger, malnutrition and the loss of livelihoods.
The funding appeal comes amid a broader humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where years of conflict, economic instability and disruptions to basic services have left large segments of the population dependent on aid.
In March, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners launched the 2026 Yemen Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, seeking $2.16 billion to provide life-saving assistance to 12 million people across the country.
The UN has repeatedly warned that funding shortfalls are forcing aid agencies to reduce or suspend critical programs, raising concerns that food insecurity and malnutrition could worsen further in one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
