What the Attack on Hodeidah Means for Yemen’s Children: 8 Things You Need to Know

1. The city and surrounds of Hodeidah are one of the most densely populated areas in Yemen. There are around 600,000 people in Hodeidah, including 300,000 children, caught in the fighting.
2. The United Nations fears that as many as 250,000 people – more than 100,000 children – may lose everything, even their lives, if the current military attacks escalate.
3. Hodeidah is the single most important point of entry for the food and basic supplies to Yemen. Close to 70% of the country’s imports, including commercial and humanitarian goods, enter through Hodeidah and Saleef to the north. Suspension of port activities will have a catastrophic humanitarian impact on children across the country.
4. More than 11 million children in Yemen are already in need of humanitarian assistance.
5. More than half the health facilities in Yemen are not functioningdue to damage or a lack of operating budget and staff. Many health workers have not been paid for over a year.
6. In 2018, an estimated 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished across the country, including nearly 400,000 severe acutely malnourished children fighting for their lives.
7. Collapsing water and sanitation systems in Yemen have cut off 8.6 million children from regular access to safe water and sanitation, increasing the risk of diseases spreading.
8. Nearly 2 million children are out of school across the country. The education of another 4.5 million children is at risk due to teachers not being paid for over a year.

UNICEF is on the ground across Yemen to bring lifesaving supplies and services to children. In 2017, UNICEF and partners in Yemen:

• Reached nearly 10 million people with access to safe water.
• Dispatched more than 960 million water purification tablets to respond to the cholera crisis, which is the largest outbreak ever recorded.
• Treated nearly 227,000 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
• Helped nearly 1.7 million people access mine risk awareness education.
• Delivered cash transfers, in partnership with the World Bank, to more than 1.3 million of the most vulnerable households.
• Reached over 370,000 children with formal or non-formal education.

*SOURCE: UNCEF — UN Children’s Fund.

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