Empty stomachs and abandoned classrooms: The case of Yemen

The Yemeni crisis has over the years grown to become the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world. The seven-year-long conflict between the Saudi- led military and the Iran-backed Houthi rebels has led to widespread attacks on civilians, cholera outbreaks, and one of the worst food shortage crises this planet has seen.

The conflict has also severely interrupted education in the region, with up to 2 million children out of school. This growing number owes to the 1600 schools that are either destroyed or are being used to house displaced families or to hold military activities. Such is the case in most conflict-ridden areas where the school buildings are the first to shelter military planning and operations. Underlining how education is often the first to play a hefty price in every conflict.

The war has also scarred the childhood of many across the country with the number of children recruited in the fighting doubling. In the years these children should only shoulder the weight of their backpacks, they’re being made to carry the weight of rifles and the protection of their homeland.

Armed conflicts around the world have struck the upcoming generation the hardest. Children around the world are growing up to the sound of air strikes, warplanes, and bombings. Those that still have standing school buildings to attend leave their houses every day with the risk of not making it back. What the world is doing now is setting the tone for the future to be led by people who have seen nothing but conflict and destruction, who were denied their basic right to education by powers deciding to engage in war. Inevitably, Earth is looking at its future through a pile of dust and rubble.