UNICEF: 2m Yemen children are out of school

As many as two million Yemeni children are out of school and have “very limited” opportunity to return to education, UNICEF warned yesterday.

In a tweet, the international children’s protection body said that one in five schools have been damaged, destroyed or used as shelters or for military purposes in Yemen.

The international organisation announced that the European Union had pledged an additional €10 million to support UNICEF’s humanitarian response in Yemen including nutrition, water and sanitation projects throughout the country.

2 million children in #Yemen are out of school with few options to return to learning.
One in five schools is either damaged, destroyed or being used for shelter or military purposes.#YemenCantWait #InvestInHumanity pic.twitter.com/w2yG7ozuN6

— UNICEF MENA – يونيسف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا (@UNICEFmena) February 24, 2019

The United Nations has launched a humanitarian appeal to donor countries and institutions to raise $542 million to meet Yemen’s humanitarian needs for 2019.

READ: Survivors of Yemen school bus air strike return to class

For more than four years, Yemen has been wrecked by a devastating war between government forces and Houthi militants.

According to the UN, half of Yemen’s population, or nearly 14 million people, face imminent famine, with more than 22 million people in need of humanitarian aid.

Yemeni children affected by the Saudi-coalition war – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]