Entesaf Org: 8,218 children killed and injured since the start of the war on Yemen
SANAA, June 04 (YPA) – The Entesaf Organization for Women and Children’s Rights confirmed that 8,218 children have been killed and injured since the start of the Saudi-led coalition aggression.
In a statement on the occasion of the International Day for Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, June 4 of each year, the organization pointed out that the purpose of this day is to acknowledge the suffering of children who are the most affected victims and vulnerable to violations during wars and armed conflicts.
The statement stated that this day revealed the United Nations’ failure to protect the rights of children in Yemen who live in severe suffering, psychological and physical harm, lack of health care, killing, displacement and the violation of all their rights claimed by international laws, charters, and treaties.
It stated that 12.6 million children need some form of humanitarian assistance or protection, while it is estimated that poverty rates have risen to about 80 percent, and out of every ten children, more than eight live in families that do not have sufficient income to meet their basic needs.
The statement stated that the aggression caused an increase in the rates of existing violence among children by 63%, indicating that 88 crimes of child rape and 145 crimes of kidnapping were recorded.
182 children were killed or injured as a result of cluster bombs and remnants of the aggression between January and last May, according to the statement .
The statement indicated that Yemen recorded the highest child mortality rates in the Middle East, where about 60 children die out of every thousand newborns, as a result of the repercussions of the aggression and blockade, and the lack of preterm nurseries, as the health sector owns 600 nurseries, while the actual need is estimated at two thousand incubators, in addition to the deaths 52 thousand children annually, which means the death of a child every ten minutes.
The report noted that the blockade has caused an increase in malnutrition rates, which rose during the past two years to six million people from 3.6 million, an increase of 66 percent. Severe acute, life-threatening.
While the number of displaced children reached 1.71 million, and more than six million male and female students suffer from the collapse of the education system as a result of the aggression and siege.
According to the statement, the number of children with physical disabilities as a result of the aggression reached five thousand and 559 children, and the actual number is expected to be much higher.
“Since the beginning of the aggression, the role of the United Nations and its organizations has been absent. Rather, the matter has evolved until it abandoned its responsibilities and withdrew support from most vital sectors, and ignored all violations against civilians, especially children,” the organization’s statement said.
The statement held the coalition led by America and Saudi Arabia responsible for all crimes and violations against the children of Yemen, calling on the international community and international organizations to assume legal and humanitarian responsibility for the violations that civilians of the Yemeni people are exposed, and to take effective and positive action to stop the aggression and protect women and children.
E.M