Local Editor
UNICEF on Friday stated that 80% of Yemen’s children are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.
“After more than three years of fighting, the situation of children in Yemen is getting worse, not better. Yemen has the largest number of children in need of humanitarian aid globally. Over 11 million children - 80% of the country’s children – desperately need humanitarian assistance. They face the daily threat of food shortages, diseases, displacement and acute lack of access to basic social services,” said UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac during a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Boulierac added, “Already weak civilian infrastructure – including water networks, schools and medical facilities –is under attack. Basic goods are in critically short supply. When services fail, children are the first to suffer.”
Back to school
The UNICEF spokes person stressed “Children’s education is one of the greatest casualties of war,” adding “As with other sectors, the education sector in Yemen is on the brink of collapse because of the ongoing conflict, political divisions among parties to the conflict, and chronic underdevelopment.”
UNICEF estimated that 2 million children would be out of school this school year compared to 1.6 million before the conflict, according to data from the Ministry of Education.
“We also estimate that another 4 other million primary school students are at risk of losing access to education - mainly in the northern provinces of Yemen - because about 67% of public school teachers – and this is across the country – have not been paid for nearly two years,” Boulierac said.
The UN organization called on all education authorities across Yemen to work together to find an immediate solution to provide salaries for all the teachers and education staff. it also urged the international community, donors and development partners to support incentives for teachers while searching for long-term solutions to the salary crisis in Yemen.
“Peace and recovery are an absolute must if children in Yemen are to resume their schooling and get the quality education they urgently need and are entitled to,” Boulierac comcluded.
Source: Yemenwatch.net
