Geneva Palais Briefing Note On The Humanitarian Situation Of Children In Yemen

NEW YORK (June 12, 2020) – “In Yemen, humanitarian needs have never been more acute, or funding more constrained.

“As of today, UNICEF’s $479 million appeal to sustain essential basic services for children this year is just 38 percent funded. The most immediate and critical funding gap is for emergency water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) operations, including for the COVID-19 response. 

“Of the 8.4 million Yemenis whose access to WASH will be affected because of insufficient funding, a total of 4 million people – nearly half of them children – directly depend on UNICEF.  They are among the most vulnerable Yemenis due to conflict, cholera and internal displacement.

“Unless UNICEF receives $30 million by the end of June, water, sanitation and hygiene services will start shutting down for these 4 million people in July.  This means UNICEF will not be able to provide fuel to operate water pumping stations, or de-sludge sewage, or maintain crumbling water and sanitation infrastructure. It means we will not be able to distribute basic family hygiene kits that include soap, which is so critical for preventing both cholera and COVID-19 in context where millions don’t have access to handwashing facilities.

“To keep WASH services running through the end of the year UNICEF requires $110 million. This level of funding will allow us to reach an extra 2.8 million people who we project will require assistance by then.

“The criticality of maintaining safe water, sanitation and hygiene provision cannot be overstated in the context of a running cholera and diarrhea epidemic. Over 137,000 cases have been recorded since the beginning of the year, nearly a quarter of them among children below 5 years old.

“UNICEF’s COVID-19 response in Yemen is also severely under-funded. As of today, just 10 percent of UNICEF’s $53 million funding requirement had been received.

“In addition to WASH, UNICEF leads the sector focused on risk communication and community engagement, which raises awareness about the coronavirus, and supports local efforts to prevent and contain infection. UNICEF’s planned response includes training and equipping frontline workers on infection prevention and control, sustaining essential maternal and child health services, and providing health facilities with testing kits, oxygen concentrators, ventilators and PPE items.

“Since the start of the outbreak, UNICEF has shipped over 33,000 N95 respirators, 33,000 face shields, and 18,000 gowns -- crucial personal protective equipment needed by frontline workers. But this represents just 5 percent of the COVID-19 supplies UNICEF requires.

“Without $48 million immediately, UNICEF will not be able to:

• Provide PPE items and operations support to 25,000 frontline workers, including health staff.
• Provide safe water and sanitation services for 900,000 people in isolation centers and quarantine facilities.
• Procure oxygen concentrators and ventilators.

“Children in the heart of the world’s worst humanitarian disaster need help. Funding Yemen’s WASH needs and COVID-19 response is critical to their survival. We appeal to donors to step up and dig even deeper to support this lifesaving work.”

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About UNICEF
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) works in more than 190 countries and territories to put children first. UNICEF has helped save more children’s lives than any other humanitarian organization, by providing health care and immunizations, safe water and sanitation, nutrition, education, emergency relief and more. UNICEF USA supports UNICEF's work through fundraising, advocacy and education in the United States. Together, we are working toward the day when no children die from preventable causes and every child has a safe and healthy childhood. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

For more information, contact
Erica Vogel, UNICEF USA, 212.922.2480, evogel@unicefusa.org
Gabby Arias, UNICEF USA, 917.720.1306, garias@unicefusa.org