Yemen's Children Are Starving as Aid Funding Falls Short, Leaving Millions at Risk

More than 2.2 million children under the age of five in Yemen are suffering from acute malnutrition, and over half a million of them are classified as severe cases, according to United Nations figures. The crisis has deepened over nearly twelve years of war, which has left more than 22 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 18.3 million facing acute food shortages. Yet the country has received only a fraction of the money required to address the emergency, with just one-fifth of the $2.2 billion needed this year actually funded.

The human cost of this shortfall is visible in displacement camps, nutrition centres, and hospitals across the country. One father, whose eight-year-old daughter Tahani has been wasting away from severe malnutrition, spent years pleading with officials and aid organisations for help. "My daughter is dying. Save her," he said, according to an account published by Al Jazeera Arabic. His desperation reflects that of countless other families who have exhausted every avenue for assistance.

Al Jazeera Arabic travelled to displacement camps and medical facilities to investigate why the billions of dollars in aid sent to Yemen have not prevented children from reaching dire levels of hunger. The investigation examined where malnutrition is most severe, how aid funding is distributed, and why experts argue that current efforts treat the symptoms of the crisis rather than its root causes.

In the al-Khadeesh camp in the Abs district of Hajjah governorate, the family of Jiyad Mohammed Jalal, a boy who has not yet turned two, lives in conditions shaped by displacement. The war forced them from Haradh district, and Jiyad is now severely malnourished. His weight has fallen to dangerous levels, requiring continuous treatment, and the hospital has become a regular part of the family's routine. His case is not isolated. Ground reports obtained by Al Jazeera document more than 200 malnutrition cases in Abs over the past three years alone.

In Dhale governorate, Al-Nasr Hospital admitted 269 acutely malnourished children between January and August 2026. Nationally, almost a quarter of Yemen's acutely malnourished children—some 516,157—suffer from the severe form of the condition. Yemen's Ministry of Public Health and Population reported an increase in severe malnutrition cases among children under five between January and July 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

Data analysed by Al Jazeera Arabic shows that Taiz recorded 11,982 cases of severe malnutrition in children, followed by Aden with 7,339 and Dhale with 6,710. For moderate malnutrition, Taiz had 24,529 cases, followed by Abyan with 15,366 and Lahj with 11,893. While these local figures do not provide a complete national picture, they reveal that malnutrition is not concentrated in a single centre or region. Instead, pressure on nutrition services is spread across different parts of the country, straining an already fragile health system.

Treatment protocols vary depending on severity. Children with severe malnutrition require a full medical assessment, and those with complications may need hospital admission. Stable cases can be treated and followed up as outpatients under approved medical guidelines. Moderate cases are monitored at clinics, where they receive therapeutic foods or nutritional supplements and have their weight and growth checked regularly. In al-Sumayya camp in Marib, Dr Muajiba al-Mansouri runs a government nutrition clinic. Over the past year, she told Al Jazeera, the clinic treated 33 children with severe acute malnutrition, 85 with moderate acute malnutrition, and 84 mothers.

Dr al-Mansouri said that lack of food or poor diet, illness, social conditions, and feeding problems are all made worse by war, poverty, and displacement. The World Food Programme supports the treatment of moderate cases, while supplies for severe cases come through UNICEF and the governorate health office. At the time she spoke to Al Jazeera, her clinic had recorded no deaths from malnutrition, thanks to timely treatment. Four severely malnourished children regained their appetite and weight after their mothers learned therapeutic feeding techniques. Yet even a child saved in the clinic often returns to the same conditions that caused the problem in the first place.

Mothers face the same risks as their children. An estimated 1.3 million pregnant and breastfeeding women in Yemen suffer from malnutrition. A mother who is feeding a child also needs adequate food and care herself, but she typically lives in the same economic and health conditions as her family, creating a cycle of deprivation that is difficult to break.

The broader humanitarian picture is equally grim. According to UN agencies, some 14.4 million people in Yemen need water, sanitation, and hygiene services, and only about 59.3 percent of health facilities are fully operational. Funding has never matched the declared need. In 2022, $2.27 billion of the required $4.27 billion was funded. By 2024, the figure was about $1.51 billion out of $2.71 billion required. The 2026 plan seeks approximately $2.16 billion but is only 20.6 percent funded. These figures cover all sectors, not just malnutrition.

The funding gap comes as Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, recorded a sharp rise in cases at the facilities it supports during the first half of 2026. UNICEF said the shortfall has forced programmes to prioritise life-saving treatment over prevention and has limited access to children in the areas most in need. The result is a system that can pull some children back from the brink but cannot stop them from falling into crisis again.

Experts say that without addressing the underlying causes—conflict, poverty, displacement, and failing infrastructure—aid will remain a temporary fix for a permanent emergency. The war, which began about 12 years ago, has shattered Yemen's economy and health system, leaving families with no reliable access to food, clean water, or medical care. For children like Tahani and Jiyad, the clock is ticking, and the international response remains far short of what is required.