UNICEF in Yemen
UNICEF has been on the ground in Yemen since civil conflict began, leading the way to provide 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
Millions of children are suffering in Yemen.
Three-quarters of Yemen's population — including 11 million children — are in need of humanitarian assistance due to years of war inside the country.
More than 1.7 million children have been driven from their homes by violence. There is widespread food insecurity, the economy is in collapse and social systems have faltered.
An estimated 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished, with some 540,000 of them under age 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), which is life-threatening.
Yemen continues to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which strained an already fragile health system, disrupted education for millions of children and left them increasingly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
UNICEF's humanitarian strategy focuses on delivering direct, lifesaving assistance and strengthening health and other systems to continue vital services and help meet basic 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 while collaborating closely with partners to meet urgent needs.
Millions of children and families depend directly on UNICEF for water, sanitation and hygiene services and support.
UNICEF scaled up its support to hospitals and health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to work with partners to improve the delivery of critical services, including routine immunizations.
Other priorities 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 and damaged schools
- providing learning materials and supporting formal and informal education
- providing psychosocial and mental health services to children exposed to violence
- continuing a cash transfer program that has already helped thousands of impoverished families
The Yemen war's impacts on children and families are staggering. COVID-19 has further devastated the country. UNICEF is appealing to donors for support in order to meet the urgent needs of children and families in Yemen, still one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.