21 Aug 2021; MEMO: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) revealed on Friday that three million Yemeni children are unable to enrol in education this year due to the ongoing conflict in the country.
Katharina Ritz, head of the ICRC delegation in Yemen, posted on Twitter: "With the start of the school year in Yemen, let us not forget that the conflict has destroyed hundreds of schools and made nearly three million children unable to enrol in education this year. Yemeni children, like all children, need to go back to school."
On 8 August, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported that 8.1 million Yemeni children require emergency educational assistance. A week ago, the new school year started in Yemen amid extremely difficult living and health conditions.
For nearly seven years, Yemen has been a stage for a war that has claimed the lives of 233,000 people, while 80 per cent of the population (amounting to 30 million people) have become aid-dependent in order to survive in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the UN.
The conflict is further complicated by the fact that it has regional extensions. Since March 2015, an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been carrying out military operations supporting government forces against the Iranian-backed Houthis, who control several governorates, including the capital, Sanaa.
