Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of demand for humanitarian assistance in Yemen in the next six months.

The UK is extremely concerned that Yemen’s devastating humanitarian crisis, already the world’s largest, is set to further deteriorate given the onset of COVID-19.

24 million were already in need of humanitarian assistance and COVID-19 is now spreading rapidly. UK funded modelling predicts that there are now over 1 million infections and in a worst-case scenario, there could be between 62,000 and 85,000 deaths.

Alongside the significant direct impacts of COVID-19, the virus is exacerbating existing humanitarian needs. Getting accurate data on the level of need in Yemen is very challenging, but we expect that forthcoming food analysis will project a further deterioration in the situation with even more people in need over the coming months.

At the same time, the UN's ability to respond is severely constrained by a short fall of over one billion in funding this year. The UK will continue to urge other donors on the need to urgently provide funding to the UN. Donors should pledge more and disburse quickly ahead of Yemen’s expected COVID-19 peak of late July.