© UnicefYemeni child
In a press release following the sending of the report, Secretary-General's Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said no less than 1,340 children were killed or maimed in Yemen last year.
He noted however, that in 2016 the Coalition took measures to reduce the impact on children, "including through their rules of engagement and the establishment of a joint incident assessment team mandated to review all incidents involving civilian casualties and identify corrective actions."
It is also noted that at the time of drafting of the report, Saudi Arabia has established a child protection unit at the coalition headquarters.
Yemen has been engulfed in a violent conflict between the government headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and the Houthi Shia movement, also known as Ansar Allah, backed by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh since 2015. The Saudi-led coalition comprising Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Sudan (with Qatar withdrawn in June) started carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis at Hadi's request in March of the same year.
The conflict in Yemen prompted what is considered the largest humanitarian crisis worldwide. By the estimate of the United Nations, nearly two million Yemeni children suffer from malnutrition. At the same time, the civilian population of the war-torn country is largely affected by clean water shortages and a lack of accessible medical services. Yemen is also encountering a devastating cholera outbreak, with nearly 700,000 people having contracted the potentially lethal disease so far.
Comment: Though it appears that Saudi Arabia is taking criticism of its actions that impact the lives and wellbeing of Yemeni children, too little has been addressed. Famine, cholera, incessant bombings have taken a horrific toll, while reprisals, by such as the UNSC, have been ineffective, un-reinforceable and far between. Who gains in this scenario? AQAP