Over 11K kids killed or maimed in Yemen’s 8-year old war: UNICEF
UNITED NATIONS – The eight-year-old conflict in Yemen has killed or maimed more than 11,000 children, according to the UN Children’s Fund.
An average of four children were killed or wounded since the beginning of the war in Yemen in 2015, UNICEF said in a statement on Monday.
While the UN-brokered truce led to a significant reduction in the intensity of the conflict, a further 62 children have been killed or injured after a nationwide cease-fire expired on Oct. 2, it said.
Yemen’s warring sides failed to reach an agreement to extend the UN-brokered truce.
UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell called for the renewal of the truce following a visit to the war-torn country last week.
“Thousands of children have lost their lives, hundreds of thousands more remain at risk of death from preventable disease or starvation,” said Russell.
An estimated 2.2 million children in Yemen are acutely malnourished, including nearly 540,000 children under the age of five suffering from severe acute malnutrition and struggling to survive, according to UNICEF.
Two million children are out of school, and this number could rise to 6 million children having their education disrupted as at least one out of four schools in Yemen are destroyed or partially damaged.
“If the children of Yemen are to have any chance of a decent future, then the parties to the conflict, the international community and all those with influence must ensure they are protected and supported,” Russell said.
UNICEF also called for 484.4 million dollars to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Yemen in 2023.
The eight-year conflict has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with millions risking starvation.
The civil war began in September 2014, when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital, Sana’a. A military coalition led by Saudi Arabia entered the war in early 2015 to restore the government to power. Anadolu/Philippine News Agency
