A military operation to capture the port and city of Al Hudaydah was launched on 13 June 2018 with heavy aerial bombing and naval shelling targeting the port itself and parts of the city. The UN and its partners estimate that as many as 600,000 civilians are currently living in and around Hudaydah. In the event of military escalation or siege of the city, the lives of an estimated 250,000 civilians could be at stake. Among these are some 62,500 women of reproductive age, of whom approximately 6,263 would be pregnant and in need of delivery services, including emergency obstetric care services. An estimated 5,200 families have fled the fighting since 1 June 2018.

A Rapid Response Mechanism has been established to accelerate the humanitarian response for those newly displaced within 72 hours as the first line response. UNFPA is among the three UN agencies (UNICEF and WFP) leading the rapid response. Some 20,000 rapid response dignity kits (locally termed 'transit kits') were prepositioned by UNFPA for distribution within the first two days of activation of the rapid response mechanism. An online tracking system has also been developed to track the distribution of these kits on a daily basis.

UNFPA is providing a range of reproductive and gender-based violence services and supplies at services delivery points in Hudaydah, Ibb, Aden and Sana'a. Support includes, emergency reproductive health kits positioned at hospitals to assist pregnant women and emergency deliveries among those being evacuated; distribution of family kits, mama kits and male and female dignity kits; teams providing psychological, legal and case referrals at humanitarian service points, and positioning of midwives and gynecologists across five districts in Al Hudaydah Governorate.