UNICEF in Yemen
Despite difficult and often dangerous conditions, UNICEF remains on the ground in Yemen, as it has since civil conflict began in 2015, delivering safe water, nutrition, education and protection to children and families and collaborating closely with partners to meet urgent needs.
War in Yemen: a crisis for children on multiple fronts
Yemen is considered one of the world's worst protracted humanitarian crises as children and families continue to suffer severe impacts of a war that began in 2015.
Over a decade of largely unrelenting conflict, with only brief and fragile periods of reduced hostilities, "has stolen childhoods, shattered futures, and left an entire generation fighting to survive," says UNICEF Yemen Representative Peter Hawkins.
Millions of people have been driven from their homes by violence, and there is widespread food insecurity. Trade disruptions, high inflation, a banking crisis and reduced humanitarian aid have all deepened the deprivations and struggles of the country's vulnerable population.
One in two children under age 5 in the country are acutely malnourished. Among them, more than half a million suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), which is fatal without treatment. Those who survive it face lifelong consequences in the form of impaired cognitive development, chronic disease and lost economic potential.
"In Yemen, [malnutrition] it is not just a health crisis, it is a death sentence for thousands," Hawkins says.
An estimated 1.4 million pregnant and lactating women in the country are also malnourished, perpetuating a vicious cycle of intergenerational suffering.
Outbreaks of cholera, measles, diphtheria and other vaccine-preventable diseases are common, while only about half of all health facilities are functional, leaving millions of people without access to adequate health care.
Many schools are damaged or closed, restricting access to education and leaving children increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. UNICEF estimates that 7.4 million children urgently need protection services amid rising child labor, child marriage, gender-based violence and recruitment by armed groups.
UNICEF's humanitarian strategy in Yemen focuses on delivering direct, lifesaving assistance and strengthening health and other systems to continue vital services and help meet urgent needs.
How UNICEF is helping children in Yemen
UNICEF has been on the ground in Yemen since civil conflict began in March 2015, leading the way to provide water, nutrition, education and protection to children and families in close collaboration with partners.
Millions of children and families depend directly on UNICEF for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services and support.
UNICEF also supports hospitals, mobile health teams and community health workers to enable the delivery of critical services, including routine immunizations and treatment for malnourished children.
Other priorities for UNICEF in Yemen include:
- distributing soap and other personal hygiene supplies to prevent the spread of disease
- screening and treating children with severe acute malnutrition
- rehabilitating crumbling water and sanitation infrastructure while promoting climate-resilient development — including upgrading water systems to run on solar power, among other cost-effective, sustainable solutions
- repairing damaged schools, providing learning materials and otherwise increasing access to quality education in safe settings
- providing psychosocial and mental health services to children exposed to violence, and supporting gender-based violence risk mitigation, prevention and response interventions
- continuing distribution of humanitarian cash transfers, a program that has already helped thousands of impoverished families
Related: UNICEF's appeal to fund its 2025 Humanitarian Action Plan for Children in Yemen
UNICEF continues to call on all parties to the conflict in Yemen to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to allow the delivery of aid, for the release of detained UN staff and other humanitarian workers, and for an end to the conflict.
“Yemen’s children cannot wait another decade," Hawkins says. "They need peace. They need justice. But above all, they need us to act — now. Let us not fail them.”
UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to create a more equitable world for children.