إضغط هنا لقراءة الخبر بالعربية
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday accused the Yemeni warring parties of committing gross violations against children and bluntly disrespecting their commitments under the international law.
Yemen has been racked by a 4-year bloody conflictbetween the internationally-recognized Yemeni government's forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who ousted the government in 2014.
The Secretary-General's remarks have come in his 'Children and Armed Conflict in Yemen' report, set to be officially issued next month, said UN spokesman,StephaneDujarric, at press conference.
The report covers the period from 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2018, and shows horrific figures of 11,779 gross violations committed against children by Yemeni rivals.
Reality is far worse, given the increasingly difficult inspection in Yemen, the report read, as warring parties have bluntly slighted their commitments under the international law or ignored taking measures needed at time to protect children.
Killing and maiming children have been most common in Yemen, and the UN has known by sure that 7,508 children were killed or injured by airstrikes, artillery shells, land fighting, mines, unexploded munitions or suicide attacks, according to the report.
It has also been verified that 3,034 children were recruited, including 1,940 by Houthis, while the internationally-recognized government was responsible for 274 child recruits.
Assaults on schools and hospitals have been high (345 to 381 assaults), mostly leaving buildings totally or partially damaged. Still, 258 military uses of schools have been verified, denying thousands of girls and boys access to safe education.
340 children have been denied freedom, the report confirmed, expressing concerns at detention of children over proven or alleged links to warring parties.
UN representative for children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba, has said Yemen children suffering worsened during the report period, despite the positive measures taken by rivals to protect boys and girls from gross violations.
Yemen conflict hastriggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with most of the population in need for a type of humanitarian aid and immediate protection, including 14 million people risking famine and some 1.8 million children suffering malnutrition.
