Impact of Yemen Crisis on Children
Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director speaks about war on Yemeni children.
We now mark six years of conflict in Yemen.
Six Years of unimaginable suffering for children and their families.
No aspect of a child’s life has been spared.
Almost every child in Yemen, over 12 million, now requires humanitarian assistance.
Acute malnutrition is a constant threat. Nearly 2.3 million children, two out of five children under 5 years of age are now at risk of acute malnutrition this year, Including 400000 cases of severe acute malnutrition.
Children who will die without urgent treatment.
These are among the highest levels we have seen in Yemen since 2015.
All of the basic services on which children depend are collapsing. Hospitals, water, nutrition and schools. This is a race against time. We need to act fast and we need to act collectively. UNICEF has been in Yemen before and throughout the conflict.
We are not going anywhere. We will continue striving to reach all children, including the most vulnerable, no matter where they are in Yemen.
Since 2017, we have been providing quarterly cash assistance to 1.5 million of the most vulnerable households, benefitting around 9 million people. We are providing clean water, including by installing over 270 solar powered systems reaching nearly 1 million people.
We are vaccinating children. We just concluded a polio vaccination that reached over 5 million children under 5 years of age.
But as we stay and deliver against all odds, we are fast-approaching a significant funding cliff.
We appreciate the generosity of our donors over the years. But once again, the children of Yemen need your help. More urgently than ever. Above all they need peace. Peace to give them a chance to become the adults that Yemen and the world needs when this war comes to an end.let’s stand with them once again in their hour of need.