“Attention should be given to children because they make up half of Yemen’s population. Any care given to them now means caring about their future and adulthood. The progress of nations is not measured in terms of its skyscrapers, streets, malls, etc., but in how many children are given education, health services, clean drinking water, sanitation, etc.”

United Nations Naseem-ur-Rehman has been working at UNICEF for over 26 years in different countries including Pakistan, his homeland. He has been in Yemen for three years and a half. He started his job with UNICEF as Information Specialist.

He is serious with a sense of commitment and believes in what he does. He considers his work with UNICEF to be fulfilling, because it has a mission.

He sees that in Yemen, that likens Pakistan in many respects including the social structure, things can get better with partnership of others, especially when civil society organizations become more active in fighting illiteracy, child smuggling, child labor, mother and child mortality, etc. Below are the details of our interview with him: 

YP: Is Yemen going to meet the millennium goals?

NR: Yemen is not likely to achieve the millennium goals, unless the government rethinks of allocation of resources and gives more priority to children issues. 

YP: Still, most male and female student drop-outs range between the 7th grade and above?

NR: We do not work at such levels. Our interest is children and we believe that primary education is the corner stone for any development. 

YP: What are the parties you work with?

NR: We work jointly with the Yemeni government and civil society organizations. We consider government parties to be the real implementers of UNICEF's national program. We have presence right now in Al-Dhale', Lahj, Taiz and Ibb. Our activities relate to immunization of children aiming to get rid of   the major killers of children. 

YP: What is the volume of working children?

NR: At conservative estimates, 10 percent of the workforce in Yemen is made up of children.

YP: What is common about children's deaths in Yemen?

NR: Most children die of diarrhea and this is mainly caused by the lack of clean drinking water and sanitation services. Other reasons also include the decline of breast feeding and illiteracy. Over nine million children under five die of preventable diseases every year. In Yemen, 84,000 children die every year because of diseases that can be prevented.  

YP: Why do you ask government to give more attention to children while most children become school drop-outs as soon as they finish their primary school, sometimes before?

NR: Attention should be given to children because they make up half of Yemen's population. Any care given to them now means caring about their future and adulthood. The progress of nations is not measured in terms of its skyscrapers, streets, malls, etc., but in how many children are given education, health services, clean drinking water, sanitation, etc.

YP: What is your definition of early marriage?

NR: Any marriage before the age of 18 is considered to be child marriage or early marriage.

YP: Do you have figures that reveal the extent of the phenomenon in the country?

NR: We do not have exact numbers; however, from a small survey, we conducted in Al-Hodeidah and Al-Mukalla, we have come to know that one in 10 marriages is underage. This is considered a high number for a country like Yemen. 

YP: What are the risks of early marriage?

NR: There are several risks an under 18 mother is exposed to. The under 18 mother is twice as likely to die during pregnancy or childbirth because of pregnancy complications.  

YP: Does poverty shape a hindrance in front of achieving significant progress in your activities and campaigns?

NR: I would like to draw your attention to the fact that some countries are poorer than Yemen; however, children and motherhood problems are as aggravated as Yemen. The main hindrance is illiteracy.

YP: How can children problems be handled?

NR: Accumulative awareness is important and problems should be faced by family and parents. Raising awareness is a key factor for achieving progress at different levels; e.g. Pneumonia is an unrecognized problem by families. If not apprehended early, it could not be controlled later.     

YP: What are the fields in which the Yemeni government has been successful?

NR: We managed in collaboration with our partners to achieve substantial progress in some areas including children protection, children trafficking, vaccination campaigns, and the national strategy for girl education.

YP: Let's turn to failure aspects?

NR: The Yemeni government has failed in terms of decreasing maternal and children mortality, nutrition as most children are underweight and suffer dwarfism.

YP: Who are your partners to implement your activities?

NR: We work in cooperation with the government including Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Population, Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor as well as Ministry of Endowments.

YP: How can you target remote and isolated areas as for vaccination and mother and child health, especially when most death cases among children and women take place there?

NR: We work in collaboration and partnership with government through the Ministry of Public Health and Population and vaccinations and other medicines exist in all medical centers and wherever medical centers exist, we exist.

YP: As for children smuggling, what do you do?

NR: We are working jointly with the Yemeni government represented in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor to address the issue of children smuggling. There are now reception centers in Hardh and other Yemeni areas to receive those smuggled children upon their return in an effort to re-qualify them and give them a better chance in life.   

YP: Do you have any final comments?