Losing a Generation: UNICEF Sees Saudi War Robbing Yemeni Children of Their Future

“Without education [young Yemenis] will not be able to find jobs… A generation that is not educated has a very bleak future. We are losing a generation — many children are losing their education, and displacement makes it worse.” — Meritxell Relano, Yemen’s Director of UNICEF

Ahmed Abdulkareem
By Ahmed Abdulkareem
Hodeida Yemen

HODEIDA, YEMEN -- The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), expressing its concern about "future  of Yemen’s children,” has said that a "lost generation" has begun to form in Yemen owing to the humanitarian conditions faced by children in the country under  the Saudi-led coalition’s military campaign. Yemen’s director

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Saudi Airstrikes on UNICEF Water Facility in Yemen Compounds Cholera Risk

The U.S. backed Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly, systematically and deliberately attacked water and sewage treatment infrastructure in Yemen since it began its military campaign against the country in 2015.  

Ahmed Abdulkareem
By Ahmed Abdulkareem
An elderly man stands among the rubble of the Alsonidar Group's water pump and pipe factory after it was hit by Saudi-led airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Sept. 22, 2016. Hani Mohammed | AP

SAADA, YEMEN -- Four Saudi warplanes launched airstrikes against the UNICEF-funded al Asayed Water Network, destroying water pumps, an electric generator, a nearby solar energy system, and a guard room. Much of the facility was destroyed in the attack, leaving thousands of residents of the Al Safra district of Yemen's Saada governorate, including

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In Wake of ‘Shameful’ Senate Vote, UNICEF Issues New Cholera Warning for Yemen

“Let’s not fool ourselves. Cholera is going to come back,” says UNICEF’s Middle East director

Jessica Corbett
By Jessica Corbett
People are treated for suspected cholera infection at a hospital in Sanaa, Yemen, May. 15, 2017. While cholera is easily treated, the Saudis’ ongoing blockade has crippled Yemen’s health system, making it unable to respond to the crisis.(AP/Hani Mohammed)

After a "shameful and unacceptable" vote by the U.S. Senate last week to kill a bill that would have halted the nation's military support for a Saudi-led war in Yemen, the U.N. agency for children is warning about the likelihood of another deadly cholera outbreak. "Let's not fool ourselves. Cholera is going to come back," Geert Cappelaere,

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Has So-Called ‘Humanitarian Aid’ Become a Euphemism for Oppression?

A terminal lack of transparency combined with the massive power imbalance in aid work is causing an endless repetition of financial and sexual abuse by members of charities that take advantage of the most vulnerable under the cover of chaos.

Elizabeth Vos
By Elizabeth Vos
A sign in Haiti depicts a United Nations Peacekeeper in the form of a monster. (Photo: Ramon Espinosa/AP)

The latest Oxfam sex abuse scandal does not exist in a vacuum. It is not the first time that aid groups have been accused of sexual misconduct towards the very people the entities purport to protect, and without significant change, it will not be the last time that such allegations emerge. The current debacle began with the revelation of sexual

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UN Feigns Outrage Over Ghouta While Terrorist Rockets Rain Down on Damascus

Eva Bartlett breaks down the dizzying array of information surrounding the mounting humanitarian crisis in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta. With accusations abound, parsing the reality on the ground is becoming more challenging by the day.

Eva Bartlett
By Eva Bartlett
Syrian chief negotiator and Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of Syria to the United Nations, Bashar al-Jaafari, centre, sits sits with members of Syrian delegation before the start of official talks on Syria, in Vienna, Austria, Jan. 25, 2018. (Alex Halada/AP)

GHOUTA, SYRIA -- On February 20, from Amman, Jordan, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Geert Cappelaere, issued a statement of “outrage” titled: “The war on children in Syria: Reports of mass casualties among children in Eastern Ghouta and Damascus.” The “statement” -- consisting of blank lines with the preface “No

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UN: Budget Shortfall Threatens Aid To Syria’s 6 Million At-Risk Children

Nearly 6 million children are in need in Syria and another 2.5 million require assistance in neighboring countries, according to UNICEF.

Associated Press
By Associated Press
Syrian children buy vegetables at the town of Madaya in the Damascus countryside, Syria, May 18, 2017. (AP/Hassan Ammar)

The U.N. children's agency warned Friday that a critical funding shortfall is threatening aid to 9 million Syrian children, both in their country and among the refugees in neighboring states. UNICEF said the $220 million budget gap to its Syria relief programs is the worst it has faced since the start of the conflict, in 2011. It appealed for

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