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Yemen: two-thirds of displaced families have no income, says UNICEF

March 4, 2022 at 2:19 pm

Yemeni refugees are seen at a camp in Taiz, Yemen on 20 November 2021 [Abdulnasser Alseddik/Anadolu Agency]

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced on Thursday that about two-thirds of the displaced families in Yemen do not have any source of income.

“The conflict in Yemen has caused many citizens to flee their homes towards displacement sites in search of safety,” said the UN body on its website. UNICEF noted that the displaced families not only live in poor conditions but also suffer from acute shortages of services to meet their basic needs.

“Sixty-four per cent of internally displaced families have no sources of income. As a result, two out of three internally displaced families resort to negative coping mechanisms to survive,” explained UNICEF, citing an assessment by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). “These include skipping meals, pulling their children out of school or neglecting their health. They may end up begging on the street.”

On 20 January, the UN announced that the number of people displaced by the conflict in Yemen had risen to 4.2 million. The Yemeni government appealed to the UN and other international organisations to provide relief to the displaced persons who are facing extremely difficult humanitarian conditions.

According to the UN, by the end of 2021, the war in Yemen has killed 377,000 people and left most of the population of 30 million dependent on humanitarian aid.

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