Gender Alert: Crisis Upon Crisis - Impact of the Recent Escalation on Women and Girls in Yemen

Since late 2024, escalating conflict has deepened Yemen’s already critical humanitarian crisis. Between February and April 2025, heavy bombardments have caused mass civilian casualties, widespread displacement, and the destruction of critical infrastructure. Attacks on key lifelines—Al Hudayda port and Sana’a airport in May—severed supply routes, halting the delivery of food, fuel, medicine, and humanitarian aid. This disruption has crippled humanitarian operations, shutting down health facilities, restricting food distribution, and impeding emergency services—especially in frontline areas. An estimated 9.6 million women and girls are in need of aid, facing mounting barriers to essential services, including maternal health, clean water, and psychosocial support. The destruction of health facilities and a water reservoir has cut off care for over 400 pregnant and lactating women and 9,600 children. Between January and May 2025, over 6,000 people were newly displaced —26% of whom are in female headed households, adding to the 2.3 million women already living in displacement across Yemen. Displaced women face risks from income loss to protection threats. Despite the complexity of the conflict, the fragile cessation of hostilities between the U.S. and the Houthis in Sanaa offers a narrow but critical window for de-escalation and humanitarian response. This moment must be used to scale up gender-responsive aid and restore essential services to displaced and conflict-affected populations.