GENEVA, Jan 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is set to 
get much worse in 2026 as food insecurity increases and international aid 
evaporates, the United Nations warned on Monday.

Julien Harneis, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said 
he feared the calamitous situation would go under the radar until the death 
toll mounts.

The picture in Yemen is "very, very concerning", he told reporters in Geneva.

Last year, 19.5 million people in the country needed humanitarian aid -- and 
the UN's response plan for the country was only 28-percent financed, at $688 
million.

"We are expecting things to be much worse in 2026," said Harneis, pointing 
out that 21 million Yemenis were in need and aid was drying up.

He said food insecurity was increasing, particularly on the Red Sea coast, 
while the health system, supported by the United Nations and the World Bank 
for the last 10 years, was "not going to be supported in the way it has been 
in the past".

He said Yemenis would be "very vulnerable to epidemics" this year, warning: 
"A humanitarian crisis in Yemen is a risk to the Arabian Peninsula. Cholera, 
measles and polio cross borders."

"My fear is that we won't hear about it until the mortality and the morbidity 
significantly increases this next year," he added.

Harneis said the aid focus this year would be on malnutrition, public health 
and food insecurity.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States has heavily slashed foreign 
aid and other key donor countries have been tightening their belts.

Harneis said the UN was trying to work with NGOs to see if they could plug 
any of the gaps.

"Children are dying -- and it's going to get worse," he said.

"For 10 years, the UN and humanitarian organisations were able to improve 
mortality and morbidity," he pointed out.

"With the conjunction we're seeing this year, that's not going to be the 
case. That is the simple story that everybody needs to understand."