Grave Violations

Recruitment and use
0
children (223 boys, 2 girls)
Killing and maiming
0
(251 killed – 576 maimed; 652 boys – 175 girls)
Sexual violence
0
children (9 boys, 9 girls)
0
(18 schools, 18 hospitals)
0
children (30 boys, 8 girls)
0
verified incidents

*The information below is based on the Report of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict (A/76/871-S/2022/493) issued on 11 July 2022. Violations that occurred in previous years but were verified in 2021 have been included in the totals above.

Developments & Concerns

Progress

  • Continued commitment of the Government, through the identification of priority activities, to implementing the 2014 action plan and the 2018 road map to end and prevent child recruitment and use.
  • Resumption of the interministerial committee activities and the organization of training sessions on child protection.
  • Significant decrease in the number of verified cases of child recruitment and use by, and the decrease in the number of child casualties caused by, the Yemen Armed Forces, as well as efforts by the Government to facilitate humanitarian access.
  • Efforts to reintegrate children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups and the recent roll-out of the Act to Protect Children Affected by Conflict campaign in Aden.
  • Continued engagement of the Coalition with the Special Representative to sustainably end and prevent grave violations against children.
  • Decrease in child casualties.
  • Signature of an action plan by the Houthis with the United Nations on 18 April 2022 to end and prevent the recruitment and use and the killing and maiming of children, as well as attacks on schools and hospitals and other grave violations.

Challenges

High number of children killed and maimed, especially by explosive remnants of war, by the number of cases of denial of humanitarian access and by the number of cases of the recruitment and use of children and of the military use of schools and hospitals, particularly by the Houthis.

Recommendations

To the Government:

  • To continue to strengthen the measures in place to prevent child casualties during military operations and implement measures to prevent violations.
  • To adopt a handover protocol on the release of children.
  • To pursue and deepen the implementation of the 2019 memorandum of understanding and the related programme of time-bound activities.
  • To swiftly investigate all incidents involving child casualties and comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law.
  • To expedite justice, accountability and redress to child victims and their families

To All Parties:

  • To implement all the activities of the action plan, including releasing all children from their ranks, and to immediately end and prevent violations.
  • To continue the implementation of the handover protocol of April 2020 and to allow unimpeded access for the United Nations to all places of detention.
  • To urge the Houthis and all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law and to allow and facilitate safe, timely and unimpeded humanitarian access to children across the country.
  • To encourage all parties to step up the clearance of mines and explosive remnants of war, as well as and mine risk education.
  • To call upon parties to put an end to the fighting and engage with the Special Envoy for Yemen towards the resumption of an inclusive political process to reach a comprehensive negotiated settlement.
  •  To include child protection concerns in the peace process.