Yemen crisis
Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world – and children are being robbed of their futures.
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Yemen crisis: What you need to know
What’s happening in Yemen?
Yemen is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with more than 24 million people – some 80 per cent of the population – in need of humanitarian assistance, including more than 12 million children.
Since the conflict escalated in March 2015, the country has become a living hell for the country’s children. Now, with COVID-19 spreading, Yemen is facing an emergency within an emergency. Sanitation and clean water are in short supply. Only half of health facilities are functioning, and many that remain operational lack basic equipment like masks and gloves, let alone oxygen and other essential supplies to treat the coronavirus. Many health workers are receiving no salaries or incentives.
How is the crisis affecting children?
Children continue to be killed and maimed in the conflict, while the damage and closure of schools and hospitals has disrupted access to education and health services, leaving children even more vulnerable and robbing them of their futures.
Meanwhile, nearly 2.3 million children under the age of five in Yemen are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition in 2021, according to an analysis in February. Of these, 400,000 are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition and could die if they do not receive urgent treatment.
A dangerous combination of factors, driven by conflict and economic decline and now exacerbated by COVID-19, have compounded the dire situation for Yemen’s youngest children.
What is UNICEF doing to help children in Yemen?
UNICEF is on the ground to save children’s lives, to help them cope with the impact of conflict, and to help them to recover and resume their childhoods. Read more about UNICEF’s work and results in the country, and how you can help.
Check here for the most up to date statistics on the situation in Yemen.
Yemen crisis snapshot
What UNICEF is doing in Yemen
UNICEF is on the ground across Yemen to save children’s lives, to help them cope with the impact of conflict, and to help them to recover and resume their childhoods.
Conflict and violence have pushed more families into poverty and deprivation. UNICEF is helping treat severe acute malnutrition in children by providing essential therapeutic food and medical supplies.
As part of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, UNICEF has shipped crucial personal protective equipment needed by frontline workers and has continued to provide risk communication and community engagement activities.
Children are also being helped with victim assistance and education on mines and explosive remnants of war. Meanwhile, UNICEF and partners are rehabilitating damaged schools and establishing safe learning spaces.
Read UNICEF’s 2021 Humanitarian Action for Children Yemen appeal