In 2025, an estimated 6.2 million women and girls are at risk of gender based violence, while over 90 per cent of rural areas lack the necessary services to respond to and prevent these acts of violence. Survivors without access to psychosocial support, referrals to health centres, legal aid and other services risk long-term physical, emotional, social and economic impacts, with potentially life-threatening consequences. 

Yemen is one of the few countries in the Arab region without a legal minimum age of marriage, and almost one third  of women are married before the age of 18. Early and child marriage puts women and children at further risk of health complications, especially those who are malnourished. Going into labour when too young puts enormous strain on a girl’s body, which can lead to debilitating conditions like obstetric fistula, and even death. Child marriage also casts a long shadow on mental and financial well-being of both women and their children. 

Yemen has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the region, at 118 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. Reproductive health services are severely limited, with many women and girls lacking access to maternal care and family planning resources. Six out of 10 births take place without a skilled birth attendant, and four out of 10 women do not receive antenatal care from a skilled provider.

Yemen’s healthcare system remains extremely stretched. Some 40 per cent of Yemen's health facilities are partially functioning or completely out of service due to shortages in staff, funding, electricity, medicines and equipment, leaving millions without adequate care. Only one in five of functioning facilities is able to provide maternal and child health services.

Yemen is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change, and among the least prepared to mitigate or adapt to its impacts. The INFORM Risk Index ranks Yemen as the fourth most at-risk country globally to humanitarian crises and disasters, and as the third most vulnerable to climate change. Around half of Yemen’s population is exposed to at least one significant climate hazard, such as extreme heat, drought or flooding.

Climate-related emergencies have become the leading cause of new displacements inside the country, accounting for over 90 per cent of people supported through the UNFPA-led Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) in 2024. For women and girls, the fallout of extreme weather conditions has wide-ranging and life threatening consequences. New UNFPA research shows that climate extremes and the disasters that follow have a disproportionate impact on the mental and physical health of women, girls and newborns, including anxiety, hypertensive disorders, preterm and low weight births and stillbirths.