Humanitarian assistance to Yemen

Today I announce that Australia will provide further humanitarian assistance to support communities in Yemen facing starvation and disease due to ongoing conflict.

The humanitarian situation in Yemen has been described by the UN as the world's worst man-made humanitarian crisis. Over 10,000 civilians have died since 2011, and more than 22 million people – 80 per cent of the population – need humanitarian assistance.

Continued hostilities have limited the distribution of food, fuel and medicines, crippling basic services and undermining economic development. In 2017, the world's worst outbreak of cholera to date affected one million Yemenis, and diphtheria is now on the rise.

Australia will provide $3 million to support the international humanitarian response to this crisis. Australia's contribution will help affected communities by providing food and nutrition support for malnourished children, health care and access to clean water. It will help treat over 16,000 children under five for severe acute malnutrition, vaccinate over 320,000 children against polio and provide over 335,000 people with access to drinking water.

It brings our total humanitarian contribution to Yemen to $23 million since April 2017.

The Australian Government continues to call on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and allow unimpeded humanitarian access in Yemen.