Summary

Yemen is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world. For decades, local civil society groups and international humanitarian and rights organizations have been warning about Yemen’s water crisis.

Since the start of the current conflict in 2014, warring parties only have exacerbated Yemen’s water crisis. Today, the UN finds that 15.3 million Yemenis—more than half the population—do not have access to sufficient, safe, and acceptable water for personal and domestic uses, including drinking, cooking, and sanitation.

In Taizz, a governorate in western Yemen that long has been on the frontlines, control over water resources has been a centerpiece of the conflict. The governorate has remained divided between Ansar Allah (Houthi) armed forces and Yemeni government forces since 2015.

For eight years, Houthi and Yemeni government forces have violated the rights of Taizz’s residents to water, as well as many other human rights that depend on the availability and accessibility of safe and sufficient water, including the rights to life and health.

Taizz has historically struggled to provide adequate water for its residents, but the percentage of the population with access to safe and sufficient water has plummeted during the war. Many of the water sources, facilities, and services that Taizz residents previously relied on are inoperable due to war-inflicted damage, salinization issues, or continuous electricity outages due to a lack of fuel that causes water pumps to cease functioning. Today, only 21 of 88 of the wells linked with Taizz’s public water supply network are operational. Residents rely on the very limited water that still enters the public water network, rainwater harvesting, water provided by NGOs, or water that they purchase from water trucks or from private wells. In addition to wells that are managed by the Taizz Local Water and Sanitation Corporation (TLWSC), which manages and maintains Taizz’s urban water supply and sewage treatment, many individuals, families, and companies have dug unregulated wells that are considered “private wells.”

Critical to Taizz’s current water problems is the divide in control over the governorate between the Houthis and the government. Four out of five of Taizz’s basins are under Houthi control or on the frontlines of the conflict, making them inaccessible to the TLWSC. But the majority of the population lives in Taizz city, the capital of the governorate, which is under Yemeni government control.

Of five basins that supply Taizz governorate’s public water delivery network, two are under the control of the Houthis (al-Hyma and Habir and al-Hawban), two are on the frontlines of the conflict and inaccessible to the TLWSC (al-Dhabab and al-Hawjala), and one remains under government control (Taizz city).

The Houthis have weaponized water in Taizz by blocking water in the two basins under their control from flowing into government-controlled Taizz city, where the main water control station that treats and distributes water throughout the network is located. The Houthis have blocked this water despite clear knowledge that Taizz city residents rely on water from these basins. The Houthis have also continued to block and restrict water as part of their siege on the city, impeding the entry of water trucks, upon which many individuals in Taizz who are not connected to the public water network have long relied on. They have repeatedly denied humanitarian aid agencies access to the city to provide water and sanitation services to residents. The Houthis also have been blamed for laying landmines in and around water infrastructure and facilities.

Meanwhile, Yemeni government-affiliated military forces, earlier in the war, took control over several wells in Taizz city’s only basin and have sold public water supplies to residents for their own profit. Saudi and UAE-led coalition forces, intervening on behalf of the government, have conducted airstrikes on water infrastructure, including water tanks, pumping stations, pipelines, and other vital infrastructure, throughout the country, including in Taizz.

Both parties have damaged and destroyed water infrastructure through ground shelling and indiscriminate attacks in and around the frontline.

According to the TLWSC, there were 543,000 people connected to the public water supply network in 2014, which was 83 percent of the city’s population. At the time, the water network supplied 6,430,000 cubic meters of water per year, which covered 61 percent of the actual needs of the population according to the TLWSC.[1] In 2021—the last year from which the TLWSC has published data—the same network only covered 16 percent of the city’s population (which is now down to about 400,000 due to displacement) and only produced 900,000 cubic meters of water per year.[2] The city’s actual need, before the war displaced some of its residents, was 12,600,000 cubic meters per year.

Facing water scarcity, Taizz residents have been left with no choice but to buy expensive water from private water tanks and water trucks or rely on insufficient water donations from NGOs, which can only address a fraction of the population’s water needs. Because of its cost, residents told Human Rights Watch about the ways they tried to reduce their water consumption in ways that have undermined their human rights, including reducing their food consumption and reducing the amount of water they use for washing and sanitation, despite the health risks posed.

Describing the challenges he has finding water to meet his family's needs, one man told Human Rights Watch, “I wish to die, this is the best thing that can happen to me…death is more merciful than this life. We are suffering and struggling to get every single simple thing.”

The shortage of safe and sufficient drinking water and lack of adequate sanitation has also contributed to the spread of water-borne illnesses and disease, such as the 2017 cholera outbreak in Taizz that killed over 2,000 people.[3]

Internally displaced persons (IDPs), women, and children face heightened risks from the water crisis in Taizz. Disputes arise often between IDPs and host communities over scarce water resources, interviewees said. Women and children often spend hours walking on dangerous roads to collect water for themselves and their families, where they are at greater risk of sexual and gender-based violence, sniper attacks, and landmines. Children—mostly girls—miss school to travel and queue for water for their families.[4]

The Houthis have an obligation to respect the human rights of people living in territory under their control or direct influence. The Yemeni government and government-allied forces also have an obligation to uphold the rights of people living in Yemen, including the right to water. International and local civil society-led efforts to advocate for better water availability, access, and quality in and around Taizz, have largely failed.

Both the Houthis and the Yemeni government, in consultation with community leaders and local civil society, should take immediate actions to allow the TLWSC and NGOs to access, repair, and operate water infrastructure on the conflict’s frontlines and in Houthi-controlled territory. All warring parties should take immediate steps to improve access to water in the governorate, including coordinating, where necessary, to address all residents’ short- and long-term water needs. Local officials should also coordinate with civil society and water experts to establish a plan for the development of sustainable water management practices.

Parties to the conflict should also pay reparations to the many individuals that have been directly harmed by their serious violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and gross violations of international human rights law (IHRL), including where those violations have affected access to water. Warring parties should immediately cooperate with, support, and repair damaged and inoperable water infrastructure vital for the realization of residents’ human rights.

Methodology

As part of the research for this report, Human Rights Watch conducted 25 interviews between May and September 2023, including with civilians living in Taizz, representatives of the Yemeni government’s local water corporation in Taizz, Yemeni civil society organizations, international non-governmental organizations, and United Nations agencies. Interviews were conducted in Arabic or English, with the assistance of an interpreter in some interviews.

All interviews were conducted remotely. Human Rights Watch informed all interviewees of the nature and purpose of our research and our intentions to publish a report with the information gathered. We informed each potential interviewee that they were under no obligation to speak with us, that Human Rights Watch does not provide legal or other assistance, and that they could stop speaking with us or decline to answer any question with no adverse consequences. We obtained oral consent for each interview. Interviewees did not receive material compensation for speaking with Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights watch further reviewed and analyzed documents provided by the Taizz Local Water and Sanitation Corporation (TLWSC), which manages and maintains Taizz’s urban water supply and sewage treatment, and by the UN Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) cluster that provided details regarding Taizz’s water infrastructure, the levels of water production at the different basins located throughout Taizz, and shifts in water production before and after the war, and maps of the infrastructure. Human Rights Watch’s Digital Investigation Lab analyzed this information, as well as news reports and other maps and water infrastructure details provided by other international organizations.

In addition to the documents provided by the TLWSC and the UN WASH cluster, Human Rights Watch also analyzed dozens reports and assessments conducted by international organizations, civil society, and academics detailing Yemen’s water availability and access to water both before and after the start of the conflict. Human Rights Watch also reviewed and analyzed civil society reports, assessments conducted by international organizations, and news reports regarding the impact that challenges to water access have had on civilians in Taizz.

Yemen does not have an accurate complete sampling frame of households; the last official population census was taken in 2004. Other electoral lists or registration databases (e.g., births, marriages, etc.) include only people who register and not the total resident population and do not maintain current addresses or locations of all residents.

On November 2, 2023, Human Rights Watch wrote to the Houthi authorities and the Yemeni government, outlining our findings, asking a series of questions, and requesting comment. On November 20, Houthi authorities responded, rejecting Human Rights Watch’s findings and stating that they were biased. Human Rights Watch also reached out to local Houthi Authorities in Taizz to interview them, but never received responses to these requests.

Recommendations

To the Houthi Authorities

• Stop using internationally-banned antipersonnel landmines and clear them from inside of or around objects indispensable to human survival, including key water sources, facilities, and infrastructure. Share maps of mined areas with UN organizations and clearance operators.
• Immediately facilitate the unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid, including water and supplies needed to ensure the availability and accessibility of water in to Taizz. Allow humanitarian agencies and organizations to enter the city unimpeded.
• Stop all attacks on water infrastructure and other critical civilian objects.
• Take all feasible steps to end the water crisis in Taizz, including coordinating with the Yemeni government and other stakeholders.
• Provide prompt, effective, and adequate reparations to victims of Houthi forces’ international law violations, including unlawful attacks on and against critical civilian infrastructure. Prioritize repairing, rebuilding, rehabilitating, and providing funding to restore previously damaged water infrastructure, regardless of whether the infrastructure was damaged in a lawful or unlawful attack.
• Investigate international law violations and potential international crimes carried out by Houthi forces, including whether Houthi forces have used starvation of the civilian population as a method of war.

To the Yemeni Government

• Stop carrying out or contributing to attacks on water infrastructure and other civilian objects.
• Provide prompt, effective, and adequate reparations to victims of the Yemeni government’s international law violations and ensure reparations to all victims in Yemen. Call on allies, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and other coalition states to provide prompt reparation.
• Call on allies including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other coalition states, to prioritize rebuilding, rehabilitating and providing funding to restore previously damaged water infrastructure and to develop new water facilities and services that can ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of water for all residents of Taizz, regardless of whether the infrastructure was damaged in a lawful or unlawful attack.
• Take all feasible steps to end the water crisis in Taizz, including coordinating with the Houthis and other stakeholders.
• Seek assistance from and facilitate the work of international organizations and donors to support the establishment and rehabilitation of water infrastructure in Taizz city.
• Facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid agencies and other humanitarian organizations and their staff, as well as humanitarian aid including water and supplies needed to maintain water production.
• Increase support for landmine survey and clearance, particularly around key water sources, in areas under their control.
• Take steps to regulate private entities involved in the delivery of water to residents of Taizz to ensure that safe and sufficient water for personal and domestic uses is accessible for all, regardless of a person’s ability to pay.
• Respect, protect, and fulfil the right to water of people and communities that are especially at risk of not accessing safe and sufficient water, including IDPs, women, and children. In particular, take steps to remedy the lack of public water provided to IDP camps and the long distances women and children must travel in some cases to attain water.
• Redress the historic governmental water mismanagement and allocate resources to improve the water infrastructure and implement water conservation policies across Yemen. Develop a comprehensive and sustainable water management plan addressing climate change, population growth, and the rehabilitation of the water infrastructure in Yemen and in Taizz, including in light of future water demands.

To the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen

• Prioritize the water crisis in Taizz and continue pushing parties to the conflict to coordinate on water access.
• Publicly and privately press the Houthis to end their siege of Taizz City.
• Include Yemeni civil society in negotiations and peace talks, including at the local level in conversations in and around Taizz, as well as in conversations at the national and regional levels.

To the UN Human Rights Council

• Request the UN Secretary General to conduct a study on the extent of civilian harm, including violations against individuals and infrastructure, in Yemen and how to bolster efforts on addressing harm in Yemen, including through reparations and redress.

To the International Community

• Urge parties to the conflict to lift the wide range of obstacles that hinder aid agencies from rapidly reaching people in need and to remove obstacles that impede or obstruct the flow of critical life-saving resources, like water, to those in needs.
• Support efforts for accountability and redress, both at the Human Rights Council and through other avenues, including urging parties to the conflict to provide reparations for their violations of international law.
• Provide support to local organizations working to increase water access for people in Yemen, including those who are supporting local water-related mediation efforts and those working to develop sustainable water infrastructure and practices.
• Ensure international NGOs working on water in Taizz consider the specific challenges faced by the Muhamasheen and IDP communities, as well as women and children, in their interventions.

Background

September 2023 marked nine years since the Houthi armed group, formally known as Ansar Allah, took over Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, causing the internationally recognized Yemeni government to flee and sparking a non-international armed conflict. In March 2015, a coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began military operations against the Houthis, significantly intensifying the conflict.

The war has been devastating for civilians in Yemen. Since 2014, warring parties have killed and wounded thousands of civilians and damaged and destroyed vital civilian infrastructure. According to the 2023 UN Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO), the conflict has left an estimated 21.6 million people (two-thirds of the population) in need of humanitarian aid, of which 15.3 million require support to access clean water and meet basic sanitation needs.[5] Eighty percent of the population struggles to access food, safe drinking water, and adequate health services.[6]

Yemen has long been one of the most water-scarce countries in the world.[7] The World Bank, which has been tracking Yemen’s freshwater supplies since 1961, stated in 2010 that Yemen could run out of water by 2030, given that water was being depleted at multiple times the rate it is being recharged.[8] As of 2020, Yemen’s available water stands at just 65 cubic meters of water per person per year. According to the UN, “When annual water supplies drop below 1,000 m³ per person, the population faces water scarcity, and below 500 cubic meters [they face] absolute scarcity.”[9]

The war has exacerbated Yemen’s existing water crisis, as about 40 percent of the country’s water, sanitation and hygiene facilities were damaged due to the conflict.[10] Yemen’s water per capita dropped by 15 cubic meters per person per year from 2014 to 2020, which, in the context of severely limited water availability, constitutes a nearly 20 percent drop.

Extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, have also contributed to the water crisis in Yemen and are projected to become more frequent and intense in coming years as a result of climate change.[11] They have destroyed irrigation facilities, leading to the loss of agricultural livelihoods, and placed additional pressure on water and land resources, including in Taizz.[12]

Historical Context of Water Scarcity in Taizz

The nine-year conflict’s impact on residents’ lack of access to water is particularly stark in Taizz city, the third-largest city in Yemen, where long-standing historical water scarcity has been significantly exacerbated by the war.

Taizz city is the capital of Taizz governorate and is located between Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which is controlled by the Houthis, and the port city of Aden, which is formally controlled by the internationally recognized government, but in reality is under the control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC).

The current water infrastructure in Taizz was built in the late 1970s and early 1980s.[13] Effective water management was lacking, several water infrastructure projects were implemented with little to no governmental oversight, and policies encouraged the rapid depletion of the Yemen’s groundwater supply, which is Taizz’s only source of water.[14] This governance failure contributed to a steady depletion of Yemen’s water reserves. According to one individual, “the water situation has been difficult in Taizz since the [19]80s.”[15]

Yet the city’s population rapidly increased in the 1990s, sparking a water crisis in Taizz.[16] Like much of the rest of the country,[17] Taizz’s groundwater reserves rapidly declined as the governorate’s growing population and the introduction of more water intensive irrigation methods led to water extraction that outpaced renewal.[18]

Taizz’s Public Water Supply

Today, control over Taizz governorate is divided. Houthi forces have surrounded Taizz since 2015, and continue to control parts of the governorate, while Yemen government-backed forces control Taizz City at the center of the governorate. [19] Taizz has remained one of the active frontlines of the conflict since 2015. Fourteen percent of the civilian conflict fatalities reported in Yemen between 2018 and 2022 were in Taizz, according to the Civilian Impact Monitoring Project, a service under the United Nations Protection Cluster for Yemen.[20]

Taizz Governorate has five main basins that feed into its public water supply: (1) al-Hyma and Habir, (2) al-Dhabab, (3) al-Hawjala, (4) al-Hawban, and (5) Taizz city.[21] These basins each consist of a set of wells, 88 in total, that provide the population with water through a network of pipes and pumps that pump groundwater into the water control station inside Taizz City, which in turn treats and distributes water to the houses linked to the public water supply networks.[22]

Since 2015, two of Taizz’s basins – al-Hyma and Habir, and al-Hawban – have been fully under Houthi control. The city, on the other hand, which is where most of the water from Taizz’s public water resources previously were directed and where a concentration of Taizz’s population lives, is under government control.

The public water supply network primarily provides water to residents of Taizz City, as well as to residents of Hawban, which is under Houthi control. While Taizz Governorate as a whole has a population of about 2.8 million people, the vast majority of the population lives in rural areas and generally does not have access to the public water supply networks, and instead relies on water provided by NGOs, rainwater harvesting, and commercial water trucking. [23]

Much of the water infrastructure, including al-Dhabab and al-Hawjala basins, are located near and on the frontlines of the conflict. Water extraction has been suspended at these two locations since the start of the conflict in Taizz, as individuals who previously worked at these facilities cannot approach them without significant risk of being caught in a crossfire or encountering landmines or explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Other water infrastructure and facilities are unable to supply safe and sufficient water to the public delivery networks due to war-inflicted damage, water quality issues, or a lack of fuel that is required to pump and convey water.[24] According to the Taizz Local Water and Sanitation Corporation (TLWSC), and the World Bank, 60-70 percent of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities in Taizz have been either completely destroyed or partially damaged from the conflict, either from conflict-inflicted damage (e.g., damage from shelling) or from neglecting to do maintenance due to the conflict.[25]

In 2022, the TLWSC began rehabilitating two out of the nine wells in al-Dhabab basin that are furthest away from the frontline in Internationally Recognized Government-controlled area, despite the risks posed. At time of writing, the two wells are starting to produce water at limited capacity, according to an interviewee who previously worked with the TLWSC.[26]

Houthi Violations of Taizz Residents’ Right to Water since 2015

Since 2015, when the Houthis first entered Taizz governorate and laid siege to Taizz City, the Houthis have severely restricted Taizz residents’ access to water, violating their human rights. The Houthis have blocked water from two of Taizz’s main water basins from entering the public water network—two basins that previously supplied 77 percent of Taizz’s overall water supply.[27] During their continued siege on the city they have also blocked humanitarian aid from entering the city, including water supplies and aid organizations working to rehabilitate water infrastructure. The Houthis have also used landmines near and around water infrastructure and facilities, further restricting water access and causing harm to individuals who have tried to approach these areas to gather water.

Blocking Water from Entering the Public Network

Al-Hyma and Habir and al-Hawban basins are both located within Houthi-controlled territory, far from the frontline, and previously had a combined production capacity of nearly 10,000 cubic meters of water per day prior to the conflict.[28] Initially, when the Houthis first laid siege on Taizz, a limited amount of water from the basins continued to flow into the public supply network. According to one interviewee, this was “not because the Houthis allowed it, but because the general director of the water office in Hawban is friends with the general director of TLWSC [Taizz Local Water and Sanitation Corporation]” and they made an agreement to allow a limited amount of water to continue moving from the basins.[29]

However, government-affiliated armed forces took over several of the wells located in government-controlled territory from 2017-2019 and sold the water from these wells to cover their salaries, as they were not being paid by the government.[30] When the Houthis discovered what was happening, the Houthis ordered the general water director of the water office in al-Hawban to block the pumping of water from both basins into the network—impacting both Houthi-controlled territory and Yemeni government-controlled territory in Taizz.[31]

After significant negotiations in 2019 led by Sheba Youth foundation, a Yemeni civil society organization leading the water negotiations in Taizz, the armed forces agreed to hand over control of the wells in Taizz city back to the TLWSC, with the understanding that the Houthis would allow water to once again enter the public supply network from the two basins. This would have benefited the populations living under both Yemeni government and Houthi control, as water from the basins feeds both Taizz city and Hawban areas. However, a breakdown in negotiations after the government forces withdrew from the Taizz city wells has resulted in a stalemate, and as of the time of writing, the Houthis continue to block water flow from al-Hyma and Habir and al-Hawban into the public water supply network.

A former employee of the TLWSC told Human Rights Watch that “the Houthis are the main ones responsible for halting these basins’ work,” stating that when the TLWSC had asked the Houthis why they had stopped pumping water from the two basins, they had stated that “they are not getting any benefit from the basin, and the areas under our control don't have access to water and sanitation services.” The former employee told Human Rights Watch that “[the Houthis] are claiming that, but we know that it is part of the siege on Taizz to double the people’s suffering.”[32]

Human Rights Watch reached out to Houthi authorities to gather further information regarding why pumping from al-Hyma and Habir stopped, but they declined to answer.

Houthi Siege on Taizz City

In addition to their control of critical water resources, Houthi forces have, for years, restricted humanitarian access into Taizz city.[33] Houthi forces maintain checkpoints at the two main entry points to Taizz city and have restricted access to and within the city for civilians and humanitarian organizations, which in turn has impeded the ability to deliver aid, including water, to affected communities.[34] Research conducted by Human Rights Watch and other organizations over the years found that roadblocks and checkpoints imposed by Houthi forces on key pathways into Taizz have forced civilians and supplies, including food, water, and aid, to undertake long and dangerous journeys to enter the city.[35]

“We're used to living in this situation, where everything is hard to get. The electricity, and water, everything is hard here,” said one individual living in Taizz city.[36]

Earlier in the conflict, Houthi guards at checkpoints around the city confiscated water, blocked water trucks, and even arrested activists who tried to drive a convoy of water trucks into the city. Prior to the conflict, some water from the basins—particularly those now within Houthi territory—was also trucked into areas of Taizz city that were not connected to the public water network.[37] However, since the conflict began, the Houthis’ blockade on the city has ended this practice, as driving between al-Hawban and Taizz city now requires a circuitous route to reduce risks of Houthi attacks that takes 6 to 8 hours, compared with the 10-15 minutes it took prior to the war.  

The Group of Eminent Experts (GEE) on Yemen stated in their 2019 report that “[t]he impact of the ‘siege’ by the Houthis on the civilian population’s access to food, water and essential medical items to run hospitals and provide vital medical assistance was devastating.” In the GEE’s last report in 2021, they stated that the Houthis’ continued siege on Taizz “significantly impeded humanitarian access and aid delivery.”[38]

The UN-brokered truce, which ended in October 2022, included a provision for the special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to “invite the parties to a meeting to agree on opening roads in Taizz and other governorates to facilitate the movement of civilian men, women, and children” to alleviate the suffering in the city.[39] On July 3, the Office of the Special Envoy shared plans for a phased reopening of the roads in Taizz to help alleviate civilian suffering.[40] But the Houthi authorities rejected the proposal, prompting rare criticism by the European Union delegation to Yemen, which said that “the EU deeply regrets a rejection by the Houthis of the latest proposal.”[41]

Since then, Taizz has remained one of the frontlines of the war, and the abusive siege on the city by Houthi forces has continued.

Houthi forces have used banned antipersonnel landmines and indiscriminately laid other types of landmines and explosive devices throughout the conflict, as recently as 2019.[42] Houthi-laid landmines have caused hundreds, if not thousands, of civilian casualties throughout the war, particularly among children.[43]

According to Landmine Monitor, 582 people were killed or wounded by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) in 2022, an increase on 528 mine victims in 2021.[44] There were at least 5,339 victims from landmines and ERW in Yemen between 2011 and 2021, according to the Monitor.[45]

Houthi forces have also laid landmines around wells, water tanks, and other water infrastructure, facilities and sources throughout the country, including in Taizz, according to three people interviewed by Human Rights Watch.[46] According to interviews with the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC), a civil society organization working in Taizz, and an academic specialized in the Taizz water network, Houthi forces used landmines in and around Taizz water basins, including al-Hawjala’s pumping station, which is located on the frontline.[47] It is unclear when exactly they placed the landmines, as few individuals have been able to access the area since it became a frontline in 2015. A water expert told Human Rights Watch that residents of Taizz know that certain water facilities had been surrounded by landmines because “people who tried to go to the water basin area died or were injured by landmines.”[48]

According to one individual, the Houthis have themselves admitted to laying mines around al-Hawjala and al-Dhabab basins but stated that they would not disclose any information or maps until they reached an agreement over water access with the Yemeni government.[49] It is not clear whether mines were intentionally laid around the basins or whether it was part of a larger mining effort on the frontline.

Houthi forces also laid mines around the city on the routes leading to water sources, and around other civilian infrastructure, according to several interviewees. One interviewee working with YEMAC said “I saw wells, bridges being destroyed and [the Houthis] have laid landmines everywhere.”

Some landmines have also been placed in areas where rainwater is harvested and channeled to farms. When it rains in these areas, floods carry landmines to surrounding areas, exposing civilians to fatal injuries and disrupting their ability to travel, including to gather water. “When it rains, the floods take the landmines with them and scatter them around. Sometimes people have to wait for days until the floods clear so they can travel,” said the YEMAC representative.

The Houthis’ placement of landmines near and around water infrastructure has contributed to civilians’ lack of access to water. Landmines placed near wells and other water sources have caused casualties when individuals have detonated a landmine while attempting to fetch water.[50] In Hodeidah, another governorate of Yemen, Houthis have also placed landmines directly inside of wells, contaminating the water.[51] The placement of landmines near major water infrastructure, including al-Hawjala basin, also blocks organizations from being able to access and maintain water infrastructure, contributing to water scarcity throughout the governorate. Until these landmines are found and removed, they can continue exacerbating Taizz’s water crisis for decades to come.

Yemeni Government Violations of Residents’ Right to Water in Taizz

Only 21 out of 88 of the wells linked with Taizz’s public water supply network are located within Taizz city and currently operational, according to the TLWSC. Prior to the war, these wells were considered “emergency wells,” and were generally not used to supply water to the network.[52] Throughout the conflict, however, it is these wells within the city that have been the main source of publicly supplied water to the city’s residents.

For three years during the conflict—from approximately 2017 to 2019—government-affiliated forces stopped water from entering the public network and took control of several of the wells within Taizz city, as well as the TLWSC headquarters, and sold the public water for their own profit. “The Ministry of Defense wasn’t paying them their salaries so [the army] needed to sell this water to get some money to continue their lives,” explained one individual who has been involved in water negotiations.

The government-affiliated forces’ control and sale of the city’s water resources deepened the water crisis for those living within the city by leaving many residents unable to pay for water that was meant to be freely available to residents through the public supply network. It also led to the Houthis cutting the water coming from al-Hyma and Habir and al-Hawban basins, both because the Houthis did not want to be contributing to government forces’ profits, but also because the government’s sale of that water meant that residents in Houthi-controlled territory were not receiving water from the public network. The forces’ presence at the water infrastructure also made it a potential military target, and Houthi forces attacked the city’s main water tanks while they were under the control of military forces.

Other Attacks on Water Infrastructure

The Saudi and UAE-led coalition has conducted indiscriminate and disproportionate airstrikes against civilians and civilian objects in many parts of the country during the conflict in Yemen. Coalition airstrikes have damaged and destroyed homes, medical facilities, schools, and markets. [53] Some of the airstrikes may amount to war crimes.[54] 

Parties to the conflict have also conducted indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on critical and water and food infrastructure and facilities across the country, including in Taizz, damaging and destroying water infrastructure, facilities and sources and further exacerbating the water crisis in the country.[55] According to Oxfam, Yemen Data Project recorded “107 air raids on water tanks, trucks, drills and dams between 26 March 2015 and 30 June 2020” across the country.[56]

Yemeni Archive, an independent NGO that collects and analyzes open-source information, shared data on 119 attacks on water that they recorded throughout the conflict with Human Rights Watch, including several attacks on water infrastructure in Taizz.

Some people interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that coalition airstrikes impacted water access. “The [coalition] airstrikes were random and not targeted, which impacted wells, specifically in Taizz,” said one individual.[57]

A representative of the TLWSC told Human Rights Watch that al-Dhabab basin, one of the main water basins that supplies residents with water, was hit by airstrikes in 2016, which destroyed infrastructure essential to its operation.[58] Two other interviewees also stated that al-Dhabab had been subject to airstrikes by the coalition.[59] However, another representative of the TLWSC stated that it was not airstrikes, but ground shelling by both parties, that had impacted al-Dhabab in 2016.[60] As access to the area has been limited throughout the conflict, Human Rights Watch was unable to verify the information.

Impacts on Taizz Residents’ Right to Water

For nine years, the majority of the residents in Taizz have not had safe and sufficient water, a resource that is both a fundamental necessity for life and a necessary condition for the realization of their other human rights.

“The situation is very bad; we are suffering and face a lot of difficulties getting water,” a woman living in Taizz told Human Rights Watch.[61]

According to the TLWSC, as of 2021, only 7 percent of the city’s total water needs are being met.

Currently, only the basin within Taizz city provides water to the public water supply network.[62] As of June 2023, the combined production capacity of the 22 wells in this field stood at 2,650 cubic meters of water per day—about the same amount of water contained in an Olympic-sized swimming pool—to serve a population of an estimated over 400,000 people living in the city.[63] According to the UN, someone lives below the “water poverty” line if they have access to less than 1,000 cubic meters of water per year.[64] The wells in Taizz city alone only provide the residents of the city with about 2.4 cubic meters of water per person per year, only 0.2 percent of what is required to reach this minimum standard.[65]

Some residents can pay for private water trucked in from private wells throughout the governorate, but the prices for this privately supplied water leave many more unable to access it. Some residents rely on collecting rainwater, which is not generally safe for dinking, or rely on water provided by international NGOs and local organizations, according to a local human rights defender who spoke to Human Rights Watch.[66]

“People in Taizz mostly rely on [private] water trucks… their prices were much lower before, but because of inflation and the increase in fuel prices and the closures of the roads … water trucks’ costs amount to US$25 [for 2,000 liters of water] in Taizz City and al-Hawban, which is too much for families,” said a woman interviewed by Human Rights Watch. Water trucks are operated by private companies and individuals, and transport water from privately-operated wells to those who can afford to pay for the water. Each truck contains about 2000 liters of water, which according to the WHO, could feed about eight people for one month, and costs reach to $25 in Taizz compared with about $10-$15 in Aden—often much money than people make in a week in Taizz. [67] The water is generally not safe for drinking.[68]

The water scarcity and high costs for trucked water have forced families to reduce their water consumption. One Taizz interviewee told Human Rights Watch that women have stopped using washing machines due to their high levels of water consumption. Another reported that some people limit their shower frequency, taking one or two showers per week based on their economic situation and access to water.

Many families have tried to reduce their water intake to be able to afford other items. “We tried to reduce our use of water, we are a small family and get a 1,500-liter water truck every two weeks, so we use 3,000 liters per month and that costs us 16,000 Yemeni riyal [approximately US$11.50],” an activist living in Taizz told Human Rights Watch.[69] Many families in Taizz don’t make more than 60,000 Yemeni riyal (about $42) per month. “We used to wash our clothes at least once a week, now because of the costly water prices, we wash our clothes once every two or three weeks.” another woman told Human Rights Watch.[70]

“Families are spending at least a quarter of their salaries solely to cover their water needs,” said a Taizz resident interviewed by Human Rights Watch. She highlighted the exorbitant costs and difficulties associated with accessing water in Taizz, explaining that even middle-income families largely depend on water distribution tanks supplied by INGOs. Absent these resources, they spend US$0.5 daily for 40 liters of water (for washing and non-drinking needs) from private wells and tanks and around $15 monthly on supermarket-bought drinking water. Normal water requirements are met via water trucks, costing them another $25 per month. “How can we survive if we spend $40 monthly on water while our income doesn't exceed $100 and is often irregular?” she lamented.

One internally displaced person (IDP) living in Mudhafer district stated that his income is 4,000 Yemeni rial a day. “What can I do with it—buy drinking water, or tap water, or [spend money on] the other needs of my family and my kids? It’s really a tragedy,” he said. “I don’t have a tank, I’m not able to afford its cost. My income isn’t enough even to cover my family's needs. My only dream is to buy a 1,000-liter tank to fill with water and forget this daily suffering.”[71]

According to a report by the Center for Civilians in Conflict, the scarcity of water resources throughout the country has led to disputes between IDPs and host communities.[72]

In Taizz, an activist spoke to Human Rights Watch about localized violence that have erupted at sites of private wells and tanks where water is sold. “These tanks lead to a lot of conflicts between the societies either because the distributing process is unorganized or because some problems for different reasons such as when armed men come to fill their containers without waiting for their turns, or a big family who make conflict because they want to fill additional containers due to the big number of the family,” she said. “The water crisis has led to a lot of conflicts and has had an impact on relationships between communities.” 

The lack of safe and sufficient water for drinking, hygiene and proper waste management and sanitation has contributed to a significant increase in the likelihood of communicable disease outbreaks. In 2017, Taizz experienced a cholera outbreak that killed over 2,000 people.[73] The same conditions that contribute to the spread of cholera have also enabled the spread of malaria, diphtheria, and dengue fever.[74] The use of unregulated water sources from private tanks and wells, and the increased use of rainwater harvesting without proper treatment of the rainwater increases the likelihood of communicable diseases.[75] Save the Children stated that 78 children under 16 died in the outbreak of Dengue related illness in Yemen. People's use of water basins to collect rainwater and other uncovered water sources contributed to the spread of mosquitoes, resulting in an upsurge in suspected dengue cases.[76]

Harms Against Displaced People

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are severely affected by water scarcity in Taizz, particularly those who relocated to camps, schools, or abandoned areas lacking water infrastructure. Taizz Governorate hosts about 445,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), mostly housed in formal camps run by the Executive Unit for IDP Camps Management, increasing the strain on limited water resources and infrastructure.[77] IDP camps are not connected to the public water network, and IDPs are forced to buy expensive water from local wells or water trucks, rely upon NGOs that provide water, or travel long distances to wells that provide free water.

One IDP, who was displaced from Hodeidah to Taizz in 2016, stated that initially, "The water situation was much better, there were many organizations who give water on a daily basis. We were even receiving drinking water, but now we can’t even find [non-drinking] water.”[78] He told Human Rights Watch that he often has to travel to an area about 30 minutes away to get free drinking water. “I walk a bit and sit a bit because it’s too far and the water is too heavy.”

Women and children living in IDP camps in Taizz, who are usually responsible for gathering water, take one to four-hour journeys to reach the nearest water source and return to their camp, according to a 2020 report by Oxfam.[79]

An activist from Taizz city who has advocated for greater access to water spoke about an IDP camp atop a mountain in al-Mawasit district. The camp's inhabitants spend at least 30 minutes to reach the nearest water source, some using donkeys to transport 40 liters of water, while others carry 20 liters on their backs along the road to the camp.[80]

Harms Women and Girls Face from Right to Water Violations

The water crisis in Taizz has disproportionately affected women, placing additional strains on them as they are often responsible for household tasks and forms of labor which are made exponentially more difficult during water shortages, such as washing clothes.

One Taizz interviewee told Human Rights Watch that women have stopped using washing machines due to their high levels of water consumption. Another reported that some people limit their shower frequency, taking one or two showers per week based on their economic situation and access to water.

Research from the UN Populations Fund has found that “sufficient, safe and affordable water supply are basic prerequisites for managing menstrual health management,” and that “menstruating women and girls must also be able to safely and privately wash with soap and water.”[81] Based on Human Rights Watch’s research in Taizz, the lack of availability of sufficient, safe and affordable water supply would make it impossible for women to be able to safely manage menstrual health.

Women are also often responsible for fetching water for their families. They undertake long and dangerous journeys to reach water distribution points or remote wells and queue for long hours to obtain water. "You see women, girls, and children burdened with water containers for more than 30 minutes every single day. It's a tragic scene," one woman told Human Rights Watch.

Women and girls in Yemen face increased risks of harassment, sexual and gender-based violence, and other abuses when travelling the long journeys to fetch water.[82]

“I remember once in al-Saeed neighborhood, a woman tried to stop an armed man who tried to fill his bottle without waiting his turn because he is busy but she was busy as well so she tried to prevent him and ask him to wait his turn and respect the others, but he started shooting around and this woman has been injured and she got moved to the hospital,” a local activist said.[83]

Humanitarian organizations reported an increase in domestic violence against women and girls returning home late due to long queues to get water and walk back carrying water.[84]

Harms Children Face from Right to Water Violations

Children are also often those responsible for gathering water for their families. As in the case of women Human Rights Watch spoke to, many children have faced long, difficult journeys seeking water for their families.

Many children have had to drop out of school to make time to travel and queue to bring water to their families. “A lot of children halted their studies to go and bring water for their families,” said one individual interviewed by Human Rights Watch.[85] “They stand there for hours waiting their turn to get water for their family.”[86]

The local activist told Human Rights Watch that when she’s asked children in her neighborhood why they aren’t in school, they’ve replied “who’s going to give us water if we go to school?”

The long search for water also means that women and children are exposed to an increased risk of landmines. One activist in Taizz told Human Rights Watch that a woman who had been visiting Taizz for her wedding lost both of her legs after a mine exploded while she was trying to fetch water for her family.[87]

 

The Right to Water, Objects Indispensable to the Civilian Population, and Reparations

The right to water entitles everyone, without discrimination, “to have access to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use.”[88]

The right to water, which includes the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation, is derived from the right to life and the right to an adequate standard of living, and has been repeatedly affirmed by the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights Council. [89]

In General Comment No. 15, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) stated that the right to water is “indispensable for leading a life in human dignity” and “a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights."[90]

Yemen is a state party to the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and was recently reviewed for its compliance with the treaty.[91] Under the ICESCR, Yemen has an obligation to ensure that water and water services are available, accessible for residents, including physically, economically accessible, acceptable for ordinary use, and of good quality.[92]

According to principle 18 of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs High Commissioner’s Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, authorities are also obligated to provide IDPs with potable water, “regardless of the circumstances.”[93]

In its recent concluding observations on Yemen, the CESCR expressed concern regarding the conflict’s severe and long-term ramifications on the enjoyment of economic, social, and cultural rights by the Yemeni population,[94] including the right to water. The CESCR reiterated that the conflict in Yemen does not negate Yemen’s responsibility to fulfill its obligations under the Covenant.

Amongst other recommendations, the CESCR called on Yemen to “enhance efforts to continue to rebuild and rehabilitate essential infrastructure, such as previously damaged water and food infrastructure,” including by seeking additional resources, to “monitor, prevent and mitigate the impacts of the armed conflict on water and sanitation services,” and to “improve access to safe drinking water, hygiene and sanitation infrastructure and services, with a particular focus on internally displaced persons.” The CESCR also called on Yemen to “fully implement” General Comment No. 15.

The Houthis, as an armed non-state actor that exercises “de facto control over [a] territory and population,” are obligated to “respect and protect the human rights of individuals and groups” living under their control, including the right to water.[95] The Houthis have controlled large swaths of Yemen since 2014, and exercise significant governance-like functions. Their control over a large portion of Taizz obligates them to protect the right to water for those living within the territory under their control. In their 2019 report, the Group of Eminent Experts stated that “The siege-like tactics used by the Houthis as relates to Taizz also encroach on several human rights, such as the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food and water, the right to health, education, and to freedom of movement."

The Yemeni government, as the de jure authority in the whole country, is not relieved of its obligations to fulfill Taizz residents’ right to water in areas where the Houthis exercise control.[96]

International humanitarian law (IHL), which applies to all warring parties engaged in the ongoing non-international armed conflict in Yemen, prohibits warring parties from attacking, destroying, removing, or rendering useless objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population (OIS).[97] OIS includes water infrastructure, installations, and sources, such as wells and irrigation works. The placement of landmines near and around water sources and infrastructure, for example, constitutes a violation of the prohibition on rendering useless or destroying objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as does attacking or destroying “drinking water installations and supplies and irrigation works.”[98]

In a closely related rule, parties to the conflict are prohibited from using starvation as a method of combat.[99]

International humanitarian law requires all parties to the conflict to facilitate the passage of humanitarian aid to the population in need and to ensure the freedom of movement of humanitarian workers, as long as no imperative military necessity justifies a temporary restriction.[100]

The use of antipersonnel landmines, which Houthis have used throughout the conflict, is banned under international law.[101]

Yemen ratified the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 September 1998 and the treaty entered into force for the country on 1 March 1999. Yemen enacted national legislation to enforce implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty on 20 April 2005.

Parties that violate international law are obligated to repair such violations.[102] Customary IHL provides that states must “make full reparation for the loss or injury” caused by their violations.[103] Reparations are meant to restore the victim party, as far as possible, to their position before the wrong occurred, and may take one or several forms, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition.[104]

In its recent review of Yemen, the CESCR recommended Yemen “provide access to effective remedies for victims of economic, social and cultural rights violations in the context of armed conflict and ensure full reparation.”

Fulfilling Taizz Residents’ Right to Water

Water is core to the right to life and dignity of the Yemeni people, yet with each passing day, the future of water access in Taizz becomes more dire, as wells run dry, and groundwater continues to be depleted.

There have been ongoing attempts—mainly led by civil society and mediators—to negotiate greater water access in Taizz, as well as to develop sustainable long-term plans for Taizz’s water management. While there have been some successes in these negotiations—including a 2021 civil society-led advocacy campaign that resulted in government-affiliated military forces relinquishing control of the TLWSC’s headquarters and its associated wells—most attempts to create long-term solutions to the issue of water access in Taizz have failed.[105] The Houthis have not, for example, agreed to allow for the pumping of water from Houthi-held areas to government-held areas nor lifted their restrictions on access to the city. International attempts to convince the Houthis to end their siege of Taizz have repeatedly failed.[106]

A member of a mediation group working on negotiations to alleviate Taizz’s water crisis told Human Rights Watch that the reason the negotiations failed was because “water issues in Taizz aren’t solely a humanitarian issue. They have political, military, and security dimensions which make it more complex, so it’s difficult to negotiate about, and a lot of water fields are based on the frontlines, meaning they are important to the parties.”

Both the Houthis and the Yemeni Government, in consultation with community leaders and local civil society, should take immediate actions to establish a coordination plan to ensure water availability, access, acceptability and quality in the governorate, and to address both short- and long-term water needs in Taizz. This plan should include the rehabilitation of water infrastructure, the pumping of water between Houthi- and government-held areas, and the lifting of the blockade on Taizz.

But, while complex, water issues are a humanitarian issue and a rights issue. People in Taizz, as people elsewhere in Yemen, have a right to water, and the warring parties have obligations under international human rights law (IHRL) to respect that right and under IHL to facilitate humanitarian access and cease attacking, destroying, removing, and rendering useless OIS. Parties should immediately rehabilitate water infrastructure that has been damaged or destroyed in areas under their control.

The Houthis, in particular, should end the abuses in their siege on Taizz City and facilitate the unimpeded passage of humanitarian aid, and end their use of landmines and explosive devices, particularly inside of and around water sources and infrastructure, and facilitate landmine removal.

The Yemeni government, in particular, has an obligation to dedicate the maximum of their available resources towards the progressive realization of the right to water, which includes ensuring people in the country have access to safe and sufficient water for domestic and personal uses. This includes regulating private entities involved in the delivery of water and water services upon which residents depend, to ensure its availability, accessibility, acceptability, and quality. Yemen must also address historic governmental water mismanagement; and develop policies to ensure that women, children, and other groups that face heightened risks are not forced to travel lengthy distances on potentially dangerous routes to gather water.

Most critically, both parties should negotiate with one another to facilitate the passage of water from the four basins located on the frontline and in Houthi-controlled territory to residents of Taizz, including both in government-controlled and Houthi-controlled areas.

Warring parties should include civil society into negotiations around Taizz, water and other issues. Several water management projects and mediation initiatives to improve water provision and infrastructure in Taizz were led by civil society organizations, yet civil society has not been formally included in the truce discussions nor meaningfully included in broader negotiations led by the UN special envoy or privately between various warring parties.[107]

Local, internationally recognized government officials in Taizz should also begin coordinating with civil society and water experts to establish a plan for the development of sustainable water management practices in Taizz over the water resources they do control, to water extraction and irrigation practices, meaningful management of groundwater resources, and the establishment of rainwater harvesting techniques and water recycling facilities.

Parties to the conflict should also provide reparations to the many individuals who have been harmed by their serious violations of IHL and gross IHRL abuses, including those who have been harmed by the warring parties’ international law violations relating to water.

Throughout the nearly nine-year conflict in Yemen, there has been almost no accountability for the widespread violations that parties to the conflict have committed. Reparations are a way to begin to address these violations, a form of justice that Yemeni civil society organizations have pointed to as a means to address the grievances of the Yemeni people and to begin the long road to sustainable peace and reconciliation.[108]

 

Acknowledgments

This report was researched and written by Niku Jafarnia, researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch. Two other Human Rights Watch staff members and a former intern, who cannot be named for security reasons, in the Middle East and North Africa division, assisted in the research. 

This report was reviewed and edited by Michael Page, deputy director in the Middle East and North Africa division, Kristine Beckerle, former deputy director in the Middle East and North Africa division, and Felix Horne, senior researcher in the Environment and Human Rights Division. The report was also reviewed by Matt McConnell in the Economic Justice and Rights division, Erin Kilbride in Women’s Rights division, Bill Van Esveld in Children’s Rights division, Nadia Hardman in Refugee and Migrants Rights division, Mark Hiznay in the Arms division, and Lucy McKernan in the Advocacy Department. Léo Martine, senior analyst with the Digital Investigations Lab, provided open-source research for the report. Ivana Vasic senior manager in the Digital division, created the map of Taizz included in the report. Clive Baldwin, senior legal advisor, and Tom Porteous, deputy program director, provided legal and program reviews.

Charbel Salloum, senior officer, and a senior coordinator in the Middle East and North Africa division provided editing and production assistance. Production assistance was also provided by Travis Carr, publications officer.