Sunday, 7 June 2026
Aden – (SEYAJ): The SEYAJ Organization for Childhood Protection has released a new working paper revealing shocking statistics on the worsening situation of children in Yemen, driven by armed conflict, climate change, and the collapse of protection systems. Field estimates show that child marriage in rural areas has reached nearly 80% over the past five years, while millions of children have been recruited into so‑called “summer centers,” with more than 10,000 forced into front‑line combat.
SEYAJ, in a working paper presented by its President during the roundtable discussion “Children Between the Risk of Abuse and Protection Gaps” organized by Al‑Qistas Foundation for Justice and Rights in cooperation with the Yemen Children’s Platform, affirmed that more than 21.5 million boys and girls in Yemen face grave risks within a collapsed protection environment. The paper highlighted that one in every four children of basic education age is now outside the schooling system, while 47% of internally displaced children lack official birth certificates. This deprives them of their fundamental rights to education and health care and renders them highly vulnerable to recruitment, exploitation, and trafficking.
Reports by local and international human rights organizations, including the UN Group of Eminent Experts, have documented that these summer centers have become sites of forced recruitment, sexual exploitation, and torture, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. SEYAJ also highlighted grave violations in Aden, where influential security actors have been implicated in sexual violence and extortion of children.
The organization called on Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, government, and Public Prosecutor to adopt urgent and systemic measures, and urged the United Nations and donors to allocate resources to combat sexual exploitation of children in the Yemeni conflict.
