Nearly 3,000 Pregnant Women in Yemen at Risk of Giving Birth Without Life-Saving Care as Crisis Escalates [EN/AR]

Country: Yemen Source: United Nations Population Fund Please refer to the attached file. ADEN, 21 September 2026 — Escalating violence along Yemen’s western coast and the southern Ta’iz frontlines is severing access to essential reproductive health care and protection services for more than 30, 000 women of reproductive age, placing their health and safety in grave danger. UNFPA estimates that among over 120, 000 people reportedly displaced by the recent escalation include approximately 30, 000 women of childbearing age and more than 2, 700 pregnant women. At least 500 women require comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care for potential complications, while an estimated 300 women are expected to give birth within the next two weeks. The escalation has forced reproductive health facilities and safe spaces for women and girls to close or operate at reduced capacity. Displaced pregnant women are giving birth in the open without skilled care and face dangerous delays in reaching comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn services as violence, damaged access routes, unsafe shelter and reduced health-service capacity continue. In areas including Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi of Ta’iz Governorate, emergency obstetric and neonatal care facilities have closed, leaving critical gaps in access to skilled care. Yemen has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the Arab region. Three women die every day from preventable pregnancy complications and 6. 2 million women and girls lack basic protection services. The current escalations are deepening the health and protection risks already faced by women and girls. “For women and girls in Yemen, this is a race against time. When violence closes a health facility or an impassable road prevents a woman from reaching skilled care, a preventable complication can become a death sentence, ” stated Francesco Galtieri, UNFPA Representative in Yemen. “Safe childbirth, reproductive health care and protection from violence are not optional in a crisis. They save lives. UNFPA is working to keep these services within reach, but the scale of need is growing faster than the resources available. ” UNFPA is leading the United Nations inter-agency frontline response through the UN Rapid Response Mechanism in coordination with UNICEF, WFP and IOM. The mechanism has reached more than 60, 000 displaced people with assistance within 72 hours since the escalation began. UNFPA is also coordinating reproductive health and gender-based violence protection services amid severe funding and access constraints. UNFPA urgently requires US$22. 7 million to scale up the response to reach 80, 000 households with emergency relief kits and 140, 000 recently displaced women and girls with life-saving reproductive health and protection services. UNFPA’s 2026 appeal of US$71 million for the humanitarian response in Yemen is only 20 per cent funded, leaving a critical gap as needs continue to rise. ### Flash Update 9 – 14 September: https: //www. unfpa. org/resources/hostilities-yemen-flash-update In Cairo For more information, please contact: Samir Aldarabi UNFPA Regional Communications Advisor Phone: +201068484879 aldarabi@unfpa. org In Yemen Lankani Sikurajapathy UNFPA Communication Specialist Phone: +94773411614 sikurajapathy@unfpa. org About UNFPA: UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, working to uphold the rights and choices of women, girls and young people across more than 150 countries and territories. It reaches millions of women, girls and young people with essential health services, protection from violence, and with vital information about their bodies and rights. It also helps governments plan for changing population needs so people can thrive today and in the future, regardless of fertility trends.

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