In Numbers

20.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance *

4 million people internally displaced

16.2 million people are food insecure (IPC 3+)

* According to the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) 2021

Highlights

• WFP targeted 8.4 million Yemeni people with general food assistance under May distributions.

• 6,737 confirmed cumulative cases of COVID-19 were reported by the end of May.

• WFP requires USD 425 million to continue operations unimpeded over the next six months (June 2021 – November 2021).

Situation Update (including security)

• The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the areas under the Internationally Recognised Government of Yemen (IRG) which stared on 20 April continued in May with a total of 104,070 vaccine doses administered during the month. On 31 March, Yemen received the first batch of vaccine doses through the global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, including 360,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses, which is part of 1.9 million doses it is supposed to receive in 2021. The 1.9 million doses, required in two shots, are for a population of nearly 30 million people.

• In the areas under the Sana’a-based authorities, the fuel crisis slightly improved as few fuel stations reopened in the second week of May, with a price of 95 percent higher than the official rate. As of 31 May, a total of 11 vessels completed discharge of 157,394 mt of fuel at Al Hodeidah port since the beginning of 2021, and a total of six vessels carrying 148,654 mt of fuel continue to be held in the Saudi-led Coalition (SLC) holding area. While there was no major interruption to WFP’s operation due to the fuel crisis, a three-fourday delay was reported at the district level where fuel was not always available. 

• Torrential rains and flooding which started in mid-April continued into May. The flash floods resulted in a number of fatalities and caused large-scale damage in many Yemeni governorates. The majority of the areas affected are those occupied by internally displaced persons (IDPs). Needs assessed include food, shelter, nonfood items (NFI) and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance after the heavy rains destroyed shelters. WFP and humanitarian partners continue to scale up the flood response during the rainy season in Yemen which runs from April to August.

• The military escalation in Ma’rib governorate that started in February continued during May and led to the displacement of more than 20,000 people, while numbers remain dynamic with high population movement reported in different parts of the governorate. In an initial response plan, WFP will support the provision of emergency food assistance for 15,000 households (105,000 people) for three months. Under the May cycle, WFP .is assisting around 2,600 IDP households