Saying adults have failed to protect them, teenagers in Yemen have put to paper their calls for peace, the right to education, free movement and freedom from fear.
Next week will mark four years of war in what has become the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. It’s estimated that 24 million people or 80 per cent of the population need human assistance and protection. Almost 10 million people are near starvation.
Besides lacking food and education, some Yemeni children like these were forcibly enlisted by Houthi rebels to carry ammunition and supplies to front lines. (Nariman El-Mofty/AP Photo/July 27, 2018)
‘We are sick of it’
“When we walk, we are scared, when we sleep, we are scared. When we play, we are scared. We don’t want to live in a warzone anymore, we are sick of it…We are innocent. We are children just like any other children, just like your children,” reads one excerpt of the Peace Resolution, a document written, translated and published with the help of the aid agency, Save the Children.
The agency estimates some 85,000 children under five may have died from hunger in the last four years. Currently, one in 10 children have had to flee their homes and some two million are out of school.
Canada, others, must act, says agency
Save the Children says “it’s more urgent than ever for Canada and other world leaders to protect children in Yemen through their foreign, defence and aid policies.” It calls on Canada to push for accountability when warring parties violate international law, that they suspend arms sales to all parties and implement a clear strategy to protect children and their families.
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