Over 2 million school-age Yemeni girls and boys are now out of school as poverty, conflict and lack of opportunities disrupt their education, according to a new report published by UNICEF.
The UN agency uncovered that the number is double the number of out-of-school children in 2015 when the conflict started.
Entitled ‘Education Disrupted: Impact of the conflict on children’s education in Yemen’, the report looks at the risks and challenges children face when out of school, and the urgent actions needed to protect them.
“Six years on, Yemeni children’s education has become one of the greatest casualties of Yemen’s devastating and ongoing conflict,” it said.
Philippe Duamelle, UNICEF Representative to Yemen, explained that the conflict has a staggering impact on every aspect of children’s lives.
“Yet access to education provides a sense of normalcy for children in even the most desperate contexts and protects them from multiple forms of exploitation,” he noted.
According to the report, when children are not in school, the consequences are dire, both for their present and their futures.
It said girls are being forced into early marriage, where they remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and unfulfilled potential, while boys and girls are more vulnerable to being coerced into child labor or recruited into the fighting.
“More than 3,600 children in Yemen were recruited in the past six years,” according to UNICEF.
Additionally, two-thirds of teachers in Yemen – over 170,000 teachers in total – have not received a regular salary for more than four years because of the conflict and geopolitical divides.
“This puts around 4 million additional children at risk of disrupted education or dropping out as unpaid teachers quit teaching to find other ways of providing for their families,” the report said.
It explained that if out-of-school children or those who have dropped out recently are not properly supported, they may never return to school.
“The combined effects of the prolonged conflict and the latest assault on education in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic will have devastating and long-lasting effects on the learning as well as the mental and physical well-being of children and adolescents in Yemen,” UNICEF warned.
The agency called for all stakeholders in Yemen to uphold children’s right to education and work together to achieve lasting and inclusive peace.
“This includes stopping attacks on schools – there have been 231 since March 2015 – and ensuring teachers get a regular income so that children can continue to learn and grow, and for international donors to support education programs with long-term funding,” it said.
