UNICEF: Yemen one of the worst countries for children to live in
Yemen is currently one of the worst countries for a
child to live in, according to a report by the UN Children's Fund.
The statistics for children in need are staggering,
the report stated Monday.
Nearly four years of conflict in Yemen have brought
untold suffering to millions of Yemeni children, said the report. Thousands
have been killed or maimed in a war not of their making and the combined risk
of conflict, disease and malnutrition is a daily reality for these children, it
added, warning that those who survive will live with the scars of conflict.
According to UNICEF, the war in Yemen has decimated
vital infrastructure on which adults and children alike depend for services:
less than half of the country’s health facilities are functional; water and
sanitation services are limited and the schooling of millions of children hangs
in the balance.
Moreover, the people of Yemen are facing an enormous
humanitarian catastrophe compounded by violence, currency depreciation, the
obstruction of essential commodities by import, non-payment of salaries for
civil servants and the collapse of basic social services, the agency said.
The situation for children in Yemen is extremely
dire, it also said. What was a bad situation has become worse, it lamented,
noting that years of under development, poor governance, deep poverty, lack of
basic infrastructure and economic stagnation have made Yemen one of the worst
places to be a child.
UNICEF has been providing support across many
fields, including health, nutrition, water and sanitation, education and child
protection, the report said.
In the last two years, UNICEF has expanded its
programs in Yemen in both scale and scope to become one of the biggest UNICEF
programs in the world in response to the increasing needs of the population in
the country in general, and children and mothers in particular, it said.
It further said that thanks to donors and partners
across Yemen, UNICEF has been able to provide support to millions of children.
