Two million children out of school: the price of three years of war in Yemen
Environment — di Andrea Barolini
A Unicef report raises a fresh alarm about the situation of children in Yemen: “2,500 schools are now unusable”.
Two million children out of school: the price of three years of war in Yemen
A Unicef report raises a fresh alarm about the situation of children in Yemen: “2,500 schools are now unusable”.
In Yemen, almost half a million children have been forced to drop out of school over the past three years — that is, since the outbreak of a devastating conflict that has pitted, since March 2015, rebel groups (backed by Iran) against an international military coalition led by Saudi Arabia. As a result, the total number of out-of-school children in the Middle Eastern nation has now reached two million.
Teachers without pay for over a year, 27 per cent of schools destroyed
The alarm is raised by a report published by Unicef, which also highlights how nearly three quarters of teachers in public schools have not received their salary for more than a year — a situation that risks jeopardising the continued education of a further 4.5 million children. According to the document, entitled "If not in school", more than 2,500 school buildings are unusable: of these, two thirds have been struck by airstrikes. Across Yemeni territory, 27 per cent of schools are now closed and 7 per cent have been handed over to fighters for military purposes or to refugees as shelter.
"An entire generation is facing the prospect of a bleak future due to limited or non-existent access to education," said Meritxell Relano, Unicef's representative in Yemen. "Even the journey to reach schools has often become too dangerous to make. Many parents prefer to keep their children at home rather than risk seeing them killed."
Two in three girls married before the age of 18
This leads to particularly critical situations: in many cases children are forced to work and girls are pushed into marriage. A survey carried out by the same United Nations agency in 2016 revealed that, in six provinces of the country, around three quarters of underage girls are already married — half of them not yet 15 years old. Furthermore, the warring factions not infrequently recruit minors who are armed and sent to the front line. Since the war began, there have been almost 2,500 recorded cases of child soldiers.
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All of this takes place against a chilling backdrop: according to Unicef itself, 78 per cent of the population lives in poverty. Almost two million children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition — a problem that also afflicts 1.1 million pregnant or breastfeeding women: the latter figure represents a 128 per cent increase since the end of 2014. The result is that 16 million inhabitants of Yemen now require humanitarian aid: more than half of this immense portion of the population is made up of minors.
The United Nations seeks humanitarian aid funds in Geneva
On 3 April, in Geneva, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres will attend the donors' conference for Yemen. The meeting is organised by the UN itself, together with Sweden and Switzerland, with the aim of providing financial support for humanitarian activities in the Middle Eastern nation. To do so, three billion dollars are needed for 2018. And only ten per cent has already been pledged. Last year, the donors' conference succeeded in raising 1.1 billion: the hope is to surpass that figure.