Recent data shows the war in Yemen has created a catastrophe for children at the hands of the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis.

As the world continues to struggle with one of the most brutal pandemics in human history, there has been no break in the fighting across the Middle East from Israel to Syria, Iraq and Yemen. 

Conflicts in the Middle East have done unthinkable damage to civilians, especially to the elderly and children. 

But in Yemen, the Saudi-led Gulf coalition and its enemy, the Houthis, are both guilty of violating the country’s children in the continuing civil war, a comprehensive UN report finds.  

“A generation of children in Yemen has been immeasurably damaged through child recruitment, abuse and deprivation of the most basic human rights, including education,” says the report, which is drafted by the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts appointed by the UN. 

According to the report, during the conflict, which began in 2014, nearly 112,000 people have died while more than 10 percent of the total deaths were civilians. But more shockingly, approximately one-third of the civilian deaths are children. 

“These figures do not include the many thousands of people who have died as a result of the worsening socioeconomic, health and humanitarian conditions,” the report added. 

“These horrific violations show how vulnerable children are during armed conflict. One in three of all casualties is a child – these are horrifying numbers. It must stop and perpetrators should be held accountable,” reacted Xavier Joubert, Country Director for Save the Children in Yemen, to the report’s findings.