Justice for children in Yemen

Yemen has been facing a protracted conflict for more than four years, leaving 24 million people in need of humanitarian assistance, with children being the primary victims of the crisis.

In order to protect and promote children’s rights, UNICEF and its partners pursue their child protection interventions to support the most vulnerable children with a large range of services such as victim assistance, family tracing/reunification, documentation of grave child rights violations and referrals to services, mine risk awareness and psychosocial support.

Another important part of UNICEF child protection’s work in Yemen is the support to the national justice system and in particular, the response to the protection and rehabilitation needs in places of detention, with particular attention to children victims of violence or crime.

In cooperation with local partners, such as the judicial authorities and civil society organisations, UNICEF promotes the diversion and alternatives to detention, supports the provision of legal aid to children in conflict with the law or victims, psychosocial support, supports the rehabilitation and re-integration of children through education and vocational training and training of justice personnel across the country on child rights and justice system adapted to children.

This is how Ali, Hussein and Yasmin* could go back to a normal life and find some hope for a better future, after benefiting from the support of UNICEF and the Yemeni Women's Union, one of UNICEF’s partners within the project in coordination with the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour.

Ali comes from a very poor family. When the 12-year-old boy got arrested and detained wrongfully for an act he didn’t commit, his family felt powerless, not having enough savings to pay for a lawyer. When the Yemen Women’s Union heard about Ali’ situation, they decided to nominate a legal advisor to follow his case, through UNICEF legal support, and after intense negotiations with the involved parties, Ali was recognized innocent and set free. When Ali’s father met the lawyer who helped his son, he approached the man and kissed him on the forehead as a sign of respect and gratitude, and he smiled while thanking him to return his child safe to him.

Hussein, 16 years old, didn’t have a chance to a childhood. After the loss of his father when he was still very young, he became the breadwinner of the family and had to work hard to support his mother and three younger brothers. His mother soon remarried and under the pressure of her new husband, the four boys were forced to leave the family tent.

“We became homeless and we were living by ourselves in the streets of Sana’a, without any family members to help us.” Hussein Said

One day, some hope came into his life when a social worker from the Yemeni Women’s Union met Hussein and decided to refer him to UNICEF so he could benefit from rehabilitation support. Thanks to this help, Hussein started a small income-generating project, opening a small shop with food items, which helped him considerably to sustain his brothers. In parallel, the organisation provided the boys with school supplies and books and helped them to access learning opportunities. Now that Hussein’ struggle is coming to an end, he hopes that a better future is waiting for him and his brothers.

Although she grew up without her parents, Yasmin* was a very happy little girl and she had strong ambitions as she wanted to go to school and become a tailor. She was raised by her older sister and was living under her roof. But Yasmin’s dreams for the future got shattered when she reached 16 years of age and her grandfather offered her a beautiful dress. “This dress is for you because your husband will soon come to visit,” the girl heard, realizing this will be her wedding dress. Yasmin was strong enough to refuse to get married but her brother-in-law threatened to divorce her sister if she wouldn’t agree. Yasmin felt she had no other choice if she didn’t want to put her sister’s life in danger.

“When I put the dress on, I suddenly couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move either. I felt my childhood was over,” Yasmin recalls. During the entire ceremony, it seemed to her she was living an awake nightmare. When she was finally left alone, Yasmin had the courage to call her older brother “I couldn’t say a world, I wanted to cry, to scream but the words weren’t coming out of my mouth. Finally, I asked him to come and rescue me.” He rushed to the Yemeni Women’s Union and explained the situation. He knew that the Union was helping women and children particularly girls exposed to violence.  Imran came back to the Yasmin’s husband’s parents with a lawyer who explained the implications of this union and the fact that this was against Yasmin’s rights as a child. After lengthy discussions, they agreed to call off the wedding, so Yasmin could go back to school.  As part of the support provided by UNICEF and its partners, a sewing machine with all the necessary equipment was also provided to her so she could practice tailoring on her own. “I was free again,” Yasmin remembers, as she walked down to the organisation one week after to thank all the workers that helped her to have her life back.

Last year, through the Yemen Women’s Union and with UNICEF’s support, 150 children (girls: 54, boys: 96) received free legal aid, provision of other child protection services including livelihood activities to 268 other (girls: 131, boys: 137) and community awareness raising for 9,784 people (mothers: 3508, fathers: 2169, girls: 2174, boys: 1933).

These activities are carried out in the framework of a project to respond to protection needs in prisons and other places of detention, implemented with the support of   in Yemen by UNICEF, the Government of Japan and United Nations Development Porgramme and UN Women through the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office.

*names have been changed to protect the identity of the children.