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The warning comes from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Which said that more than 57,000 children were forced to flee their homes in just the last two weeks while others were killed, injured or reported missing.
“Children in Yemen have experienced one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, and many have known little other than conflict and displacement,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“For children who have endured years of hunger, displacement and school disruption, this latest violence is eroding what little stability they have left.”
Children were killed and injured
Yemeni government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-backed Houthi militia have been at war since 2014, but the country has remained relatively calm following a UN-backed ceasefire in 2022.
The new escalation has forced tens of thousands of families to flee their homes, triggering widespread displacement in several provinces, including Taiz, Hudaydah and Marib.
Since September 3, at least nine children have been reported killed and 12 injured, while three others have gone missing following attacks on the road from Yemen’s west coast to Aden.
Health and education services are disrupted
Fighting has also cut off children’s access to health services and education. UNICEF said services at 26 health facilities it supports had been disrupted, while 243 schools closed or postponed classes, affecting more than 137,000 students.
The agency expanded its emergency response to reach 231,000 people. The team has supported health facilities and distributed hygiene kits and water tanks in Taiz, as well as providing additional water and hygiene supplies in Marib.
Nine mobile health and nutrition teams have been deployed to refugee camps and affected communities in Aden, Marib and Taiz. The water and sanitation emergency team also aims to reach more than 200,000 people with clean water supplies and hygiene and carry out immediate repairs to damaged systems.
Meanwhile, child protection teams provide psychosocial and case management services, including for unaccompanied and separated children. They also help make the public aware of the dangers posed by unexploded ordnance.
Supports arrival in Djibouti
UNICEF is also working with authorities in Djibouti to support Yemeni families who fled there after making the dangerous journey across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. More than 2,000 people, including many children, have now arrived in the country.
The UN agency warned that even before this latest escalation occurred, around 12.2 million children in Yemen needed humanitarian assistance. More than 2.2 million children under five suffer from acute malnutrition, including more than 515,000 children under five suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
Across Yemen, approximately 17.8 million people lack adequate access to health services, water and sanitation, and only 60 percent of health facilities are fully functional. Around 3.2 million school-age children are out of school.
UNICEF echoes the UN Secretary General’s call for all parties to protect civilians, including children, respect international humanitarian law, and facilitate safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to communities in need.
