After eight years of conflict, the level of humanitarian need in Yemen is one of the highest in the world. The country has one of the largest internal displacement crises globally. There are 4.3 million people internally displaced, including 1.8 million children.
How is UNICEF responding to the crisis in Yemen?
UNICEF is actively working to address the crisis in Yemen and support the children and families impacted by the war in the region. Some of the ways UNICEF is responding to the crisis include:
- Providing food, water, shelter and protection to vulnerable children and families
- Expanding learning opportunities to as many children as possible, especially those whose education has been interrupted by the war
- Identifying and treating children with severe acute malnutrition, a disease that impacts children in high numbers in Yemen
- Providing life-saving vaccines against preventable diseases
- Improving clean water access and sanitation infrastructure, particularly for the millions of families who are currently internally displaced and have lost access to safe drinking water
- Offering psychological support to children who’ve experienced trauma and loss
Stories from Yemen
Life skills training empowers youth to build a brighter future
With the support of the European Union, UNICEF is providing life skills training to over 1,300 young people. Life skills training is a preparation for vocational training, where children can learn relevant job skills to enter the workforce. The program has helped teenagers who’ve had to drop out of school when their family could no longer afford to send them by giving them the opportunity to gain relevant skills for employment.
Mohammed, 14, had to drop out of school in the fifth grade to help support his family. In the life skills program, he’s learned problem solving and public speaking. “I’ve also learned communication and negotiation skills. I want to learn solar panel maintenance, and I think these skills will help me succeed,” he shared. The program also offers young girls an alternative to early marriage and helps prevent boys from recruitment into armed groups.
Read more about this program here.
Life-saving therapeutic food treats children with severe acute malnutrition
UNICEF is treating children with severe acute malnutrition with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). RUTF is a life-saving supply to treat severe wasting in children under five years old.
The paste is made from peanuts, powdered milk, vegetable oil and vitamins and minerals. It’s digestible and easy to distribute and each packet has 500 calories. UNICEF procures 80 percent of the RUTF that’s distributed worldwide, and has sent 7,500 cartons of this supply to treat 7,500 children under five in Yemen.
Read more about RUTF here.
UNICEF-support mobile teams deliver life-saving nutrition services to children
Millions of the families who are internally displaced in Yemen face harsh living conditions and often go without enough food to feed their children. Because of the war, Waleed Al-Ahdal, 25, and his family were forced to relocate to a camp in Al-Jufainah, the largest camp in the country with 9,000 families. Life conditions became extremely difficult once the family was in the camp. “We are facing a difficult reality. I struggle to provide the basics for my family. All I can get is temporary daily work. Because of that, I am burdened with debts, and we find ourselves unable to afford three meals a day,” Waleed said.
His youngest daughter Ghosson, 2, was diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. She was able to regain her health with support from a UNICEF-supported treatment center after being diagnosed by a mobile health care team. Mobile teams visit the camp regularly and deliver essential services, including malnutrition screening and referral to external treatment centers when necessary.
Read more about UNICEF-supported mobile teams here.
Here are a few highlights of UNICEF’s work in 2022:
- Providing treatment for over 260,000 children with severe acute malnutrition, working in over 4,000 health facilities. Scaled treatment and prevention of malnutrition with mobile teams and outpatient programs
- Distributing emergency cash transfers to nearly 1.5 million families every quarter, supporting around nine million people
- Providing vaccination against polio and measles to more than 1.6 million children
- Supplying safe drinking water to 4.7 million people
- Offering public health care services to over 1.6 million people living in remote rural areas