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Yemen: Aid blocked from reaching people trapped in Taiz City
Aid agencies warned on Friday of the fast-developing humanitarian emergency inside Taiz City in Yemen, which has been encircled by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country’s west coast.
“It’s 20 days and counting since Taiz has been cut off…we are seeing increasingly that the fighting makes it impossible for us to get in and impossible for people to get out,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN aid coordination office, OCHA. “Access roads have been cut off and that means that very little fuel, food or other supplies have reached the city since.”
The escalation between Houthi separatists and the Aden-based Government began in early September, ending the relative calm brought about by a 2022 truce.
Among the agencies responding to chronic and acute needs across Yemen, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported that more than 800,000 people in Taiz have been cut off from assistance. This includes 600,000 people who depend on humanitarian assistance and 200,000 women and children. “We’re desperately trying to regain access to Taiz and we continue to support the broader operations across Yemen,” said Azfar Deen, WFP Regional Communications Officer for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Water price hike
There is growing concern about dwindling water supplies inside Taiz City because most residents depend on water delivered by trucks, OCHA spokesperson Mr. Laerke explained. But “with the roads closed and the diesel to run the trucks very scarce, water production in the city has fallen by about half. And the cost of the truck water has roughly tripled. So, you can imagine what that does to these people who are trapped there,” he told journalists at a scheduled briefing in Geneva.
The UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, highlighted deepening concerns about widespread hunger in Yemen. In Taiz alone, the agency has screened more than 168,000 children this year, with more than 52,000 found to be acutely malnourished, including more than 11,500 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
The agency has pre-positioned nearly 8,000 cartons of ready-to-use therapeutic food across Taiz governorate to help treat children with severe acute malnutrition. This is enough to sustain services for approximately three months, but “even when stocks are available, access constraints and disruptions to supply routes can make it more difficult for partners to transport supplies and for families to safely reach treatment”, said spokesperson Ricardo Pires.
Displacement grows
Between 7 June and 19 October 2026, IOM Yemen recorded approximately 258,679 displaced individuals, the majority of whom were hosted in Taiz and Lahj governorates. Many families are experiencing repeated movements and seeking refuge in already overstretched displacement sites and host communities.
In addition, as of 17 October, 3,836 Yemeni nationals arrived in Djibouti, reportedly fleeing the deteriorating security situation.
Reports indicate that at least 1,574 people have been killed and 6,939 others injured in the Yemen conflict since August.
ends
Story: Yemen Taiz City alert – OCHA, UNICEF, WFP
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
Duration: 3’04”
DATELINE: 23 October 2026 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson
- Ricardo Pires, UNICEF spokesperson
- Azfar Deen, WFP Regional Communications Officer for Eastern and Southern Africa
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot, UN flag alley, UN Geneva.
- Wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “It’s 20 days and counting since Taiz has been cut off, right. So, from 3 October, we are seeing increasingly that the fighting makes it impossible for us to get in and impossible for people to get out. So, it's kind of a
- textbook example of what happens when access is cut off.”
- Wide, podium speakers, Press Room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Azfar Deen, WFP: “There are over 800,000 people that have been cut off from the food assistance, which includes 600,000 people who depend on humanitarian assistance and 200,000 women and children. We’re desperately trying to regain access to Taiz and we continue to support the broader operations across Yemen.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “Access roads have been cut off and that means that very little fuel, food or other supplies have reached the city since. And I want to highlight the impact of the dwindling water supply which is raised by our country office as a particular concern because most residents depend on water delivered by trucks; and with the roads closed and the diesel to run the trucks very scarce, water production in the city has fallen by about half. And the cost of the truck water has roughly tripled. So, you can imagine what that does to these people who are trapped there.”
- Medium-wide, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “I want to stress that while the UN cannot get into Taiz, there are local groups inside the city, local humanitarians, who do have some stocks that they of course are distributing the best they can. That includes a little bit of fuel that they distribute to have the water pumps running and the hospitals running and so on and so forth.”
- Wide, podium speakers, remote speaker on TV screen.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ricardo Pires, UNICEF: “In Taiz alone, UNICEF has screened more than 168,000 children this year, with over 52,000 found to be acutely malnourished, including more than 11,500 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Nearly one in three children screened has been identified as malnourished.”
- Medium, participant.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Ricardo Pires, UNICEF: “Even when stocks are available, access constraints and disruptions to supply routes can make it more difficult for partners to transport supplies and for families to safely reach treatment, of course, as colleagues have also flagged in terms of the situation and the hostilities on the ground.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- Wide, podium speakers, Press Room.
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