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Yemen's children in crisis

School conditions in Yemen are among the worst in the world, as Yemen's government fails to invest in education, and 2 million Yemeni children do not even attend school.
Boys walk on the ruins of their school which was bombed by Shi'ite militants of the Shi'ite al-Houthi group during recent conflicts against local tribes in the Hamdan area west of the Yemeni capital Sanaa March 23, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3I8RJ
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At the beginning of March 2013, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Sanaa warned that more than 2 million children between the ages of 6 and 9 were not attending school. Months before that, UNICEF’s executive director had said that 60% of Yemeni children suffered from stunted growth and dwarfism.

Yemen is not a good place to be a child. This is not only because life in general is difficult but also because schools are unable to adapt and serve as nurturing environments attractive to students. This is one of the reasons why fewer students are enrolling in school. Additional reasons are the poor economic circumstances many citizens face and because fewer people recognize the importance of education.

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