Over 13,000 children killed, wounded due to coalition war on Yemen in 2,900 days

SANAA, March 04 (YPA) – About 13,482 children have been killed and wounded as a result of the war of the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen since 2015.

A report, made by the Intisaf Organization for Women and Children’s Rights on Saturday, said that at least 2,440 women and 3,888 children were killed, and 2,866 women and 4,288 children were wounded since.

The report indicated that more than eight million women and girls need to provide life-saving services during the current year, indicating that the number of displaced persons rose to five million one hundred fifty-nine thousand five hundred sixty displaced people, most of whom are women and children, including 740122 families.

It noted that one out of every three displaced families is headed by women, and the girls who support 21 percent of these families are under 18 years old.

The report stated that the violations committed by the coalition forces in the western coast amounted to 696, including 132 rape crimes and 56 kidnapping crimes, while the breaches in the southern provinces, especially in Aden city, reached 443 rape crimes.

According to the report, the number of persons with disabilities has increased from three million before the war to 4.5 million people currently, indicating that about six thousand civilians have been disabled as a result of armed hostilities since on Yemen the war began, including approximately 5,559 children, as well as there are 16,000 cases of women and children who need physical rehabilitation.

Regarding education, “there are at least two million and 400 thousand children who are still out of school out of an estimated 10.6 million children of school age (from 6 to 17 years), said the report, adding that the number of children facing interruption in education may rise to six million, while 8.1 million children need emergency educational assistance across the country.

Nearly 3,500 schools have been either destroyed or damaged, with about 27% of schools closed across the country, in addition to 66% of schools being damaged due to severe violence, and 7% of schools being used as shelters for the displaced.

The report pointed out that an estimated 171,600 male and female teachers-two thirds of those working in the field of education – have not received their salaries regularly since 2016, and therefore stop teaching to find other ways to support their families, which puts nearly 4 million additional children at risk of losing access to education.

It indicated that 31 percent of Yemeni girls are out of school, as a result of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions and the inability of families to provide basic educational needs.

“About 12.6 million children need some form of humanitarian assistance or protection,” the report stated, “the poverty rates have estimated to rise to about 80 percent, and out of every 10 children, more than 8 children live with families that do not have sufficient income to meet their basic needs.”

The report notes the expansion of the phenomenon of child labor during the war, at a rate that have exceeded four times what it was previously, indicating that 1.4 million working children are deprived of their most basic rights, and about 34.3% of working children, aged 5-17 years.

In the health side, the report stated that Yemen records the highest child mortality rates in the Middle East, with about 60 children dying out of every 1,000 births, in addition to the death of 52,000 children annually, which means a child dies every ten minutes, according to statistics.

The blockade, imposed by the Saudi-led coalition, also led to an increase in malnutrition rates, which have rose during the past two years to six million people, from 3.6 million. More than 2.3 million children under the age of five were registered suffering from malnutrition and 632,000 others suffering from severe acute malnutrition that threatens their lives.

In addition, there are more than 1.5 million pregnant and lactating women suffering from malnutrition, of whom 650,495 are moderately malnourished.

While a woman and six newborns die every two hours due to complications during pregnancy or during childbirth, the number of women who may lose their lives during pregnancy or childbirth being estimated at approximately 17 thousand women.

The report added that only 51% of health facilities operate in Yemen, and nearly 70% of obstetric medicines are not available due to the blockade and the coalition’s prevention of their entry, as more than 50% of newborn deaths could be avoided if basic health care was provided.

The actual need for the health sector is estimated at about two thousand nurseries, while there are currently only 600 nurseries available, which causes the death of 50% of premature newborns.

According to the report, the number of people diagnosed with cancer has reached 35,000, including more than 1,000 children, and the number of children with heart defects has amounted over 3,000 children who need to travel abroad for treatment.

with respect to epidemic diseases, the number of infected cases has reached about 4.5 million in the capital Sanaa and the provinces, including 226 cases of polio, one million and 136 000 cases of malaria, and 14 thousand and 508 suspected cases of cholera, in addition to the death of 15 children, and 1,400 others were inflicted with measles, in 7 provinces during the year 2022.

The number of kidney failure patients has reached more than five thousand who are threatened with death due to the war and the blockade.

The organization held the US-backed Saudi-led coalition responsible for all crimes and violations against civilians, especially women and children, over 2,900 days, calling on the international community, international organizations, and human rights and humanitarian bodies to bear legal and humanitarian responsibility for the violations and heinous massacres that occur against civilians in Yemen.

It called on the free people of the world to take effective and positive action to stop the war and protect civilians, and to form an independent international commission to investigate all crimes committed against the Yemeni people, and to hold accountable all those found involved.
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