UN Authority Figures

UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Board: Yemen

Both sides in the four-year civil war have sent children into combat in violation of international human rights conventions. The Houthis have inducted 18,000 child soldiers into their rebel army since the beginning of the war in 2014.
Source: NBC News, December 19, 2018

Mission of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF): "UNICEF is mandated by the UN General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children. UNICEF mobilizes political will and material resources to help countries, particularly developing countries, ensure a "first call for children" and to build their capacity to form appropriate policies and deliver services for children and their families. UNICEF is committed to ensuring special protection for the most disadvantaged children - victims of war, disasters, extreme poverty, all forms of violence and exploitation and those with disabilities. UNICEF responds in emergencies to protect the rights of children. In everything it does, the most disadvantaged children and the countries in greatest need have priority." (UN Children's Fund website, "UNICEF's Mission Statement")

Term of office: 2020-2022

Yemen's Record on Children:
"Human rights issues in the country included ... recruitment and use of child soldiers;...children younger than age of 18 participated in armed conflict for government, tribal, Houthi, and militant forces... Nearly one-third of the combatants in the country were younger than 18, by some estimates... government, Coalition-backed forces, and Houthi forces all conscripted or enlisted children into armed forces or groups and used them to participate actively in hostilities. These reports were strongly denied by the ROYG. Houthis also routinely used children to staff checkpoints, act as human shields, or serve as suicide bombers. Combatants reportedly involved married boys between the ages of 12 and 15 in fighting in the northern tribal areas; tribal custom considered married boys as adults who owe allegiance to the tribe. As a result, according to international and local human rights NGOs, one-half of tribal fighters were youths younger than age 18... Child Abuse: The law does not define or prohibit child abuse, and there was no reliable data on its extent. Authorities considered violence against children a family affair. Early and Forced Marriage: Early and forced marriage was a significant, widespread problem. The conflict likely exacerbated the situation, and local and international NGOs reported an increase in forced marriage and child marriage for financial reasons due to economic insecurity. There is no minimum age for marriage, and girls married as young as eight years of age. Sexual Exploitation of Children: The law does not define statutory rape and does not impose an age limit for consensual sex. "
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018, Yemen)