Country: Yemen Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Please refer to the attached file. As delivered Thank you, Mr. President. This is our third briefing to the Security Council this year. What I am about to share is not new – but a deterioration of an already terrible situation. One which worsens every day. Across Yemen, millions of people are surviving day by day. A decade of conflict has left people hanging by a thread. More than 22 million people – nearly half of the population – across Yemen need humanitarian aid, and that number is rising. This crisis is hitting the most vulnerable first and hardest. Hunger is tightening its grip. More than 18 million people face severe hunger. Two out of every three families are forced to skip meals every day. Women and children are always the hardest hit. The nutrition crisis continues unabated: 2.2 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, and 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding women face life-threatening complications due to malnutrition. For too many children and too many mothers, this means irreversible, lifelong physical and cognitive damage, stunting – and even death. At the same time, the health system is collapsing. Two out of every five health facilities are not fully functional, leaving more than 19 million people who need healthcare without it. Vaccine-preventable diseases are spreading fast – cholera, measles and diphtheria are ravaging communities in numbers that place Yemen among the worst in the world. Mr. President, We are trying to respond in one of the most challenging environments anywhere in the world today. As you heard from Special Envoy Grundberg, seventy-three of our United Nations colleagues remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities, with no or very limited communication with their families. Many of our assets have been seized and our access is severely restricted. Faced with this reality, we have been forced to reassess our operations in areas held by the de facto authorities. Humanitarian operations continue, and here let me pay tribute to our NGO partners working with such courage and determination. But change is needed. We need this Council’s support to secure the humanitarian access that is desperately needed. Mr. President, It is over this grim reality that this most recent, still unresolved, regional escalation looms large. Prices are rising sharply – cooking gas is up 26 per cent, while fuel prices have climbed by 20 per cent. This matters in a country that imports nearly everything. Ninety per cent of wheat is brought in from abroad – and milling it requires fuel that is also imported. We are also seeing wider supply chain disruptions across the region, making supply routes more costly, less predictable, and slowing down what remains of our operations. Mr. President, We cannot allow this catastrophe to continue. Our Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan seeks $2.16 billion to deliver life‑saving assistance to 12 million people this year. It’s a blueprint to avert a far deeper catastrophe. But right now, the gap between the resources we have and the soaring humanitarian needs is widening. Last year’s appeal was only 29 per cent funded – one of the biggest shortfalls in a decade. Mr. President, Let me close by reiterating again our most urgent asks of this Council. First, use your influence to secure the release of our detained United Nations colleagues, as well as the dozens of current and former staff from NGOs, civil society and the diplomatic community. Push for us to be able to carry out our work safely and without impediment for those who most urgently need our support. Second, please fund the response now. Third, support the Special Envoy’s efforts to achieve peace. Without it, this cycle of death, disease and deprivation will continue. Thank you

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