Sana'a: Over 11 years of the U.S.-Saudi-UAE war on Yemen, the role of the United Nations and child-related organizations has been largely limited to statements of condemnation and denunciation regarding the crimes and violations committed against children.
According to Yemen News Agency, satellite channels have broadcast, in sound and image, the remains of children torn apart by airstrikes-some carrying their school bags, others shopping with their parents, some targeted on roadsides, and others struck in funeral halls and wedding gatherings.
Yemeni children have been-and continue to be-exposed to life-threatening dangers. Among the most shocking scenes was that of the girl Ishraq Al-Ma'afa, who was killed while returning from school in Nihm district, Sana'a Governorate, in early January 2017, following an airstrike by the coalition. Her case is one among many.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Environment, the number of child casualties (killed and injured) recorded at hospitals from the start of the war until March 26, 2026, reached 8,262 children-3,243 killed and 5,019 injured.
The first airstrike by the coalition that targeted children hit the Bani Hawat area in the capital, killing 14 children. Other massacres followed, including the Dahyan incident in Saada, which left 131 people dead or injured-most of them children-making it one of the deadliest single-day incidents affecting children, as well as the Hajour incident in Hajjah, where six children were killed.
Scientific and psychological studies indicate that children directly exposed to such violations-through the bombing of their homes or the loss of family members-often suffer from psychological disorders, mood changes, loss of appetite, and a sense of instability.
These studies also confirm the emergence of sleep disorders, bedwetting, anxiety, depression, sadness, fear, lack of initiative, hesitation, poor concentration, and memory impairment, highlighting the urgent need for psychological and emotional support to help children overcome these conditions.
Yemeni children continue to endure severe psychological distress amid ongoing war and blockade, which have created a painful reality in their lives. Some have lost their lives, others have been left with permanent disabilities, and many live in families lacking the most basic necessities due to destruction and loss of livelihoods. Many children are also suffering from disease.
Their suffering goes beyond casualties and injuries. Malnutrition remains a major crisis: approximately 2.3 million children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, including 500,000 severe cases and 1.8 million moderate cases. Around one million children suffer from chronic malnutrition (stunting). Additionally, about 300 underweight newborns are recorded monthly due to malnutrition, including 55 cases requiring hospitalization and specialized therapeutic milk. Many health programs have also been suspended due to declining support from international organizations.
What Yemeni children have endured over 11 years mirrors what Palestinian children have faced for decades, and today similar scenes are unfolding in Gaza and Lebanon, with killings and direct targeting carried out by Israeli forces with U.S. and European support. The use of starvation as a method of warfare against civilians-including children and women-is described as constituting war crimes under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the targeting of civilians.
Images of scattered remains, charred bodies, and emaciated bodies are scenes that will not be erased from memory and will remain a stain on the conscience of humanity and international organizations that have turned a blind eye to the crimes committed against children in Yemen, Palestine, and Lebanon using internationally prohibited weapons.