Yemen Conflict Kills or Maims Eight Children a Day

An average of eight children are killed or maimed every day in Yemen as a direct result of the conflict that has affected the country since April, according to a new report released Wednesday by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“This conflict is a particular tragedy for Yemeni children,” said UNICEF Representative in Yemen, Julien Harneis. “They are being killed by bombs or bullets, and those that survive face the growing threat of disease and malnutrition. This cannot be allowed to continue,” he stressed.

Yemen: Childhood Under Threat reveals that nearly 400 children have been killed and over 600 others injured since the violence escalated some four months ago.

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Disrupted health services, increased levels of child malnutrition, closed schools and higher numbers of children recruited by fighting groups are among the effects of the conflict now ravaging the Arab world’s poorest country, the study finds.

Important Note

While terrorist attacks and human rights violations are happening at an alarming rate all across the world, the UN has failed miserably in finding peaceful solution to any of the conflicts. The UN Secretary-General and other top UN officials are doing nothing to stop terrorism and other crimes except issuing statements which are utterly useless and meaningless. In fact, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is an incapable man who exists in the UN as a mere figurehead.

In the given situation, the UN member countries must challenge the role of this intergovernmental organization and stop financing it. All the funds given by the member states are being squandered by the UN which is now overstaffed with unskilled officials. Believe me, UN has lost its relevance.

Rakesh Raman

Across the country, nearly 10 million children – 80 per cent of the country’s under-18 population – are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. More than 1.3 million people have been forced to flee their homes.

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UNICEF says it has been at the centre of humanitarian operations in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict, working across the country to respond to the critical needs of children by providing life-saving services, including safe water, as well as treatment against malnutrition, diarrhoea, measles and pneumonia.

Over the past six months, the agency says it has provided psychological support to help over 150,000 children cope with the horrors of the conflict, while 280,000 people have learnt how to avoid injury from unexploded ordnances and mines.