War and famine have left a generation of children with an uncertain future and without access to a proper education.

Even before the conflict started Yemen’s education indicators were among the lowest in the Middle East.

Now the country is facing one of the biggest humanitarian crises ever seen, with at least 8.4 million people at risk of starvation and 75% of the population in need of humanitarian assistance.

Almost 400,000 children under the age of five are at risk of severe malnutrition and at least 16 million people are lacking basic healthcare.

The war has also pushed more than 3 million people to flee from their homes, with 2.3 million still displaced, half of them being children.

Since the conflict started, child marriage for girls and enlisting as child soldiers for boys have increased.

Ranya, a 12 years old girl, was sold as a bride by her sick father. Her father had failed to pay his rent for two months and owed a big amount of money. He sold her in order to pay off his debts.

“... my father told me that he will get me married to a 27-year-old man who offered to help him with money in return. I did not say anything however I felt sad, cried and felt like my life was getting dark. I did not agree but I was afraid of my father and at the same I time I wanted to help him. I felt happy when I got my engagement ring because my father got the money and paid the people he owed, but I was praying every day this marriage does not happen.”

She was supposed to get married in June. Thankfully, just one week before the wedding, the Save the Children team visited her home and talked to her mother about the effects of child marriage.

Rania explains that, “they managed to convince her and then my mother talked to my father and later on talked to the groom who was good and understood our point of view — the marriage was cancelled. At that moment I felt like I brought my life back and Save the Children provided us with financial aid which changed our life.”

Save the Children is an organisation that ensure the well being of kids worldwide. They provide lifesaving emergency aid and offer psychosocial support to help children recover.

Yemen is the poorest Arab nation in the world. After an Arab Spring uprising, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the longtime authoritarian president was forced to hand over the power to his deputy, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, in 2011.

The governmental transition was a failure that led to a lot of problems, including jihadists’ attacks, corruption, unemployment and food insecurity.

A separatist movement in the south, led by the Houthi movement - part of Yemen’s Zaidi Shia Muslim minority - took advantage of Mr Hadi’s weakness and took control of the northern part of the Saada province and the neighbouring areas.

The rebels, believed to be supported militarily by Shia power in Iran, tried to take control of the entire country. In March 2015, Mr Hadi was forced to flee his country.

Saudi Arabia alongside eight other Sunni Arab states then began an air campaign aimed at restoring Mr Hadi’s government. The US, UK and France also gave the coalition logistical and intelligence support.

Occupied and damaged school building have left 2.4 million children with a disrupted education and an uncertain future.

Seven years old, Ismael, was catching his school bus when a bomb landed on it, killing 40 children.

"One of my friends was hit and died. Three more were injured — including my cousins Kasem and Hasan. Hasan kept running and running, until they caught up with him. They found him in Difwan. They say he's gone crazy.”, explains Ismael.

Ismail was injured near one of his eye and in his leg. His foot was broken and fractured.

“Luckily, I found my friends — all of them. I found Younis bleeding, but they said he is fine, thank God. They stitched up his forehead and there's a fragment in his arm. That's it, they told me.”

According to the UN, more than 3,600 schools have closed in Yemen since the beginning of the conflict. Most of these building were destroyed by bombs, some are now used as training facilities for military forces or as shelters for displaced people.

Unicef has been working on improving access, quality and equity in Yemen’s education through the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) grant.

With this grant of US$72.6 million, Unicef and the Ministry of Education are able to purchase basic school supplies, rebuilt schools but also to provide psychosocial support to the children and teachers affected.

Unfortunately, even when schools are opened with teachers available, parents are not able to meet the basic needs of their kids, including getting an education.

Parents sometimes need their children to work to help support the family and most of the time they can’t afford basic learning materials.

Teachers had not been receiving regular salaries for the past two years forcing them to seek other ways to provide for their family.

After two month of protest from teachers to get paid, school re-opened in October 2018 when they reached an agreement with the Yemeni government.

Against all odds, communities are doing their best to keep schools going. Imams are also trying to get kids back in school by telling parents : “Attainment of knowledge is a must for every Muslim. Let your children go back to school.”

Despite the crisis, about 90% of schools are now open, with the government trying to continue the education of over 5 million children and youth, 73% of the student population. However, learning is limited.

Ten years old, Fahd is keeping is hopes up and think that education is the solution to the conflict. He believes that “Educated people should understand that wars are bad”.

An entire generation of children is facing the loss of their education - and their future.

Investing in education and protection must be prioritised if we want children like Fahd to be able to realise their dreams for a recovering Yemen with a functioning school system.