Introduction: Civil unrest impacting severely on children’s wellbeing in Yemen. The toll and impact of the recent developments in Yemen have been very heavy on the civilian population, especially children. These developments are against a backdrop of economic collapse. Severe shortages of fuel and water, and skyrocketing prices of commodities especially food and water (the latter tripling since the beginning of the year), are wreaking havoc on the lives of families and ordinary civilians. Simultaneously, Yemeni civil society and population at large exhibit an impressive level of solidarity and resilience in face of growing adversity. For the positive to outweigh the negative, and for Yemen’s children to avoid bearing the consequences for many years to come, strong and concerted efforts are necessary.

Overview:

Child Protection. 76 children have been killed (10 girls/66 boys), the youngest 4 years of age, since the beginning of the civil unrest in February 2011. UNICEF partners have documented 777 cases of affected children, including 147 wounded by bullets or ammunition (15 girls/132 boys), 43 children affected by physical violence and hundreds of other children affected by teargas suffocation. Several hundred children are used as guards, performing body searches and other services in sit-in areas. Large numbers of participants in pro- and anti-government demonstrations are children, increasing their exposure to violence and psychological effects of witnessing violence. For the first time, parties to conflict in Yemen have been added to the UN Secretary General’s annexes for the recruitment of children. 20 per cent of the Al-Houthi and 15 per cent of the tribal militia affiliated with the government are believed to be children. It is worth mentioning that the government of Yemen, thanks to our advocacy efforts, has recently reiterated its commitment to ending the use and recruitment of children in a statement issued by the Minister’s Council chaired by the Prime Minister in May 2011.

Education. Teachers’ unions estimate that around half of all schoolchildren have been affected by teacher strikes, with attendance highly interrupted as a result. Reports received on 18 schools used as military installations or shelled (16 in Sana’a, 2 in Taiz), five by tribal or opposition armed groups and 13 by government armed forces or loyalists. In Abyan, similar reports were received regarding the shelling and use of schools as military installations, but cannot be independently verified as most of the governorate remains inaccessible. IDPs are occupying more than 50 schools and there is fear that they might not vacate by the start of the schooling year, September 2011.

Health and nutrition. A breakdown of healthcare services is imminent, with the Ministry of Primary Health and Population running out of funds, even for basic services. Immunization programs in the country are also under serious threat due to power outages and fuel shortages, with increasing risk for outbreaks of serious illnesses such as measles. Declining immunization coverage now being addressed through accelerated integrated outreach campaigns that commenced this week. A UNICEF nutrition assessment among Abyan’s displaced in Aden and Lahj show a risk for malnutrition to rise disastrously among under-fives unless interventions are put in place quickly.

Rapid monitoring by UNICEF suggests that nutrition of Yemen’s most vulnerable families has already been affected by the current crisis. 43% of households in a recent survey report that they regularly skip meals to cope with higher food prices, while more than 50% of respondents

say family members go to bed hungry. A recent WFP report suggests that vulnerable families are turning to qat to stem the hunger pains. Some mothers and newborns have already died at health facilities because health workers were unable to reach their places of work on time or not at all due to lack of fuel. Children identified by community volunteers and referred for treatment of malnutrition or for illnesses or immunization unable to go because caregivers cannot afford the increased prices being charged by taxis/buses etc.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). High increase in the cost of water supply and sanitation services (solid waste management and waste water management) as a result of fuel shortage, but also access. Water trucking prices increased by 400% since February 2011. Water quantities in the network have decreased dramatically, forcing more families to rely on expensive water trucking. The damage and malfunction of water systems such as wells, pumping stations, etc caused by indiscriminate attacks on facilities (Arhab, Abyan, Sa'ada) and as a result of lack of spare parts and maintenance. Transportation and availability of supplies/equipment (cost, reliability, security). Movement of thousands of vulnerable families to rural areas has put extra pressure on poor/limited services. Compromised water safety resulting in increased outbreaks of water borne and other diseases.
 

What are UNICEF’s priorities in Yemen?

Addressing malnutrition among children, which is a chronic problem
Providing safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, and enhancing preparedness in case of more escalation
Promoting the psychosocial wellbeing of children
Creating learning spaces to ensure that children have access to education,
Monitoring, reporting and advocacy on grave child rights violation as well as raising awareness to the threats that children face during emergency situations, including the threats of death and injuries due to UXOs/land mines and from the risks of child trafficking, child labour, child soldiers, family separation and child marriage
Immunisation and support to community and facility based maternal, neonatal and child health care

 

UNICEF Response

UNICEF is providing life-saving and emergency services, despite the increasingly limited capacity of partners and shrinking humanitarian space. Two immunization campaigns are currently under way offering the full range of childhood vaccines (BCG, measles, DPT3, etc). In Hodeida, Ibb, Taiz, Aden, and Dhale, a total of 1.1 million children under five are expected to be targeted by the end of 2011, while in Saada, 140,000 under-fives are to be vaccinated by the end of this week. Education programs will be targeting around seventy thousand children in Saada in an intensive Back to School campaign over the summer. The campaign will reach 350,000 children and 4000 teachers throughout the rest of the country, while the media and social mobilization parts of the campaign will spread throughout the country to reach all children in Yemen. Emergency nutrition supplies were recently delivered to Sa’ada to scale up provision of life-saving nutrition services, targeting around three thousand malnourished children under the age of five in 15 districts. Recreational kits, tents and mine risk education materials were also delivered. Safe water and storage (tanks) provided to more than 40,000 people (IDPs and vulnerable host communities) in the North and South, as well as hygiene promotion and provision of hygiene items to more than 10,000 families (70,000). Plans for improvement of

water and sanitation facilities and hygiene conditions in schools, restoring key water supply systems in Sa'ada and Abyan. In the south, UNICEF and WASH cluster partners are providing humanitarian assistance to IDPs in schools and host communities in Aden and Lahj, while the Nutrition cluster has initiated a series of periodic nutrition assessments for IDP children under five and pregnant and lactating mothers. While UNICEF works to ensure that IDPs in schools are provided with life sustaining assistance, it also is advocating for alternative accommodation so that one crisis does not create a second one when the new school year begins in September. Agreements were made with local NGOs in Aden, Dhale, Haradh, Abyan, Hodeida, Taiz, Ibb as well as Sana’a to promote the psychosocial wellbeing of children and prevention from violence. Forty Child-friendly spaces are now operational in Aden and Lahj, providing around forty thousand children with psychosocial support and educational activities. Monitoring of child rights violations is continual, as is the monitoring of availability and safety of essential supplies such as vaccines.