In War-Torn Yemen, Education is Children's Only Hope

Associated Press

26-03-2025

TAIZ, Yemen, March 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 10 years into the conflict, Yemen remains one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world, with children paying the highest price. Education is their only hope of building a better future.
As the world marks the 10 year anniversary of the conflict, GPE and its partners re-affirm their commitment to Yemen's children, through continued initiatives to rehabilitate schools, train teachers, and expand psychosocial support in the face of ongoing crisis.
Throughout the conflict, GPE has helped keep schools in Yemen open and safe for children to continue their learning.
Working closely with the government, civil society and international partners, GPE has mobilized resources to sustain access to education and prevent the education system from collapsing.
Yemen's decade-long conflict has left more than 4.5 million children out of school and disrupted the education of many more.
Education is often the first service to be suspended and the last to be restored during conflict, with dire consequences for children and their wellbeing. Children's access to education during crises helps instill a sense of normalcy, fosters psychological resilience and supports long-term recovery and peacebuilding. Without education, a generation of Yemeni children are at risk of growing up without the skills they need to build their future and contribute to their countries' stability and prosperity.
Attacks on students, teachers and schools have had a devastating impact. Around one in four schools in Yemen is unfit for use because it has been destroyed, damaged, turned into a shelter for the displaced or used for military purposes.
'I will not stop teaching. It is my duty to carry on what those before me did in teaching, so that education does not deteriorate further. Despite the difficult circumstances, I want children to get knowledge and education so they have better opportunities in the future,' - Arwa Hael, teacher, Saeed Hassan Fare'a school, Taiz, Yemen.
The conflict has left Yemen's education system on the edge of collapse. GPE has worked with the government, civil society and other partners, including Save the Children, UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, to avert a complete shutdown of the education system.
Responding flexibly to the evolving needs of Yemen's education sector, this partnership has been able to provide critical support to children, including through rehabilitating damaged schools so children can resume their learning. Students have received basic school supplies and healthy meals. School meals have been critical, as the country is facing one of the worst hunger crises in the world, with more than half of the population struggling to access food. Approximately, 2.7 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, including hundreds of thousands suffering from severe acute malnutrition – a life-threatening condition.
Students have also received psychosocial support to help them cope with war-related trauma, including displacement, violence, military recruitment and lack of essential services.
'There was bombing one day, and my mom was scared and told me not to go to school. My first school was in the city of Taiz, and there was shelling nearby. There were fears, we did not feel safe, so we moved here where we feel safe. I started here in the first year of secondary school. If I don't get an education, I will be illiterate and ignorant. Education is the most important thing,' - Ragda Al-A'ameri, 17-year-old student, Saeed Hassan Fare'a school, Taiz, Yemen.
More likely to be out of school, girls have received extra support to access learning. To address parents' security concerns about sending their daughters to school, over 2,000 female teachers have been hired to work in remote areas, encouraging more girls to go to school.
Yemen is one of the first countries to join GPE in 2003 and has received GPE grants worth US$178 million. Throughout the conflict, over $125 million of this support has helped keep schools open across the most conflict-affected governorates and ensure students learn in a safe environment. GPE has brought together national and global actors and mobilized resources that have been critical in preventing the collapse of the education system.
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