- Throughout the conflict, GPE has helped keep schools in Yemen open and safe for children to continue their learning.
- Working closely with the government, civil society and international partners, GPE has mobilized resources to sustain access to education and prevent the education system from collapsing.
Yemen’s decade-long conflict has left more than 4.5 million children out of school and disrupted the education of many more.
Education is often the first service to be suspended and the last to be restored during conflict, with dire consequences for children and their wellbeing. Children’s access to education during crises helps instill a sense of normalcy, fosters psychological resilience and supports long-term recovery and peacebuilding. Without education, a generation of Yemeni children are at risk of growing up without the skills they need to build their future and contribute to their countries’ stability and prosperity.
Attacks on students, teachers and schools have had a devastating impact. Around one in four schools in Yemen is unfit for use because it has been destroyed, damaged, turned into a shelter for the displaced or used for military purposes.
"I will not stop teaching. It is my duty to carry on what those before me did in teaching, so that education does not deteriorate further. Despite the difficult circumstances, I want children to get knowledge and education so they have better opportunities in the future." - Arwa Hael, teacher, Saeed Hassan Fare’a school, Taiz, Yemen
The conflict has left Yemen’s education system on the edge of collapse. GPE has worked with the government, civil society and other partners, including Save the Children, UNICEF, UNESCO, the World Bank and the World Food Programme, to avert a complete shutdown of the education system.
Responding flexibly to the evolving needs of Yemen’s education sector, this partnership has been able to provide critical support to children, including through rehabilitating damaged schools so children can resume their learning. Students have received basic school supplies and healthy meals. School meals have been critical, as the country is facing one of the worst hunger crises in the world, with more than half of the population struggling to access food. Approximately, 2.7 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, including hundreds of thousands suffering from severe acute malnutrition – a life-threatening condition.
Students have also received psychosocial support to help them cope with war-related trauma, including displacement, violence, military recruitment and lack of essential services.
"There was bombing one day, and my mom was scared and told me not to go to school. My first school was in the city of Taiz, and there was shelling nearby. There were fears, we did not feel safe, so we moved here where we feel safe. I started here in the first year of secondary school. If I don't get an education, I will be illiterate and ignorant. Education is the most important thing." - Ragda Al-A’ameri, 17-year-old student, Saeed Hassan Fare’a school, Taiz, Yemen.
More likely to be out of school, girls have received extra support to access learning. To address parents’ security concerns about sending their daughters to school, over 2,000 female teachers have been hired to work in remote areas, encouraging more girls to go to school.
Yemen is one of the first countries to join GPE in 2003 and has received GPE grants worth US$178 million. Throughout the conflict, over $125 million of this support has helped keep schools open across the most conflict-affected governorates and ensure students learn in a safe environment. GPE has brought together national and global actors and mobilized resources that have been critical in preventing the collapse of the education system.
Videos featuring partners – GPE, UNICEF, Save the Children, WFP
Shotlist:
00:00 - 00:12 GV’s views of Ash Shamayatayn district, Taiz, Yemen
00:12 - 00:41 Broll Ragda Alwan home life
00:41 - 01:29 INTV’s Arwa Alwan, Ragda’s mother
01:29 - 02:26 Broll Ragda journey to school
02:26 - 02:58 Broll - Saeed Hassan Fare’a School
02:35 - 03:17 INTV Ragda
03:58 - 04:00 Broll, Arwa Ahmed, Teacher
03:49 - 04:48 INTV Arwa Ahmed, Teacher
04:47 - 05:57 INTV Mohammed Abdulrahman Al-Massni, the head of the parents' council at Saeed Hassan Fare’a School
06:01 - 07:12 INTV Taha Noman Abdullah Al-Ghaili, Director of Education, Ash Shamayatayn District
07:22 - 07:47 Dr. Mohammed Omar Basaleem, Head of the Technical Office at the Ministry of Education, Aden
07:47 - 08:29. INTV Laura Frigenti, GPE CEO
08:19 - END. Broll Kwala School
Soundbites:
00:30-01:28
Ragda’s Mother
My children stopped their studies with the war broke out for six months, then we were displaced from the war zone to Taiz. Actually, I thought about leaving the conflict zone and moving to a safer area so they could continue their studies.
My daughter Ragda is currently studying and helping me with household chores and talking care of her sibling’s study. I hope she continue her education and find a job. I pray for God to grant her success and happiness.
I dream that my children will study, get jobs, and have a bright future.
I want them to be to be educated and not illiterate like me.
02:35-3:17
Ragda
My name is Ragda Sulaiman Ahmed Mohammed Alwan Al-A’ameri. I am third-year high school student at Saeed Hassan Fare’a school.
Before the war, the situation was good, life was peaceful, the schools were good. Now the situation has deteriorated. Schools, buildings, hospitals have been destroyed.
At my first school was in Taiz there was shelling nearby. There was fear, so we relocated to this school so we could go to school. We were not feeling safe but when we moved here, we feel safe.
3:33-4:40
Arwa, Ragda’s teacher
I studied at this school and progressed through the educational levels from first grade to second and then to third grades. I had very beautiful moments during my childhood.
When I finished studying at the university, I returned here to serve the place where I studied, fulfilling my duties as a governmental employee while also earning a livelihood.
Currently, the situation has deteriorated greatly; I can no longer afford essential items. There are things I need both inside and outside the home, and the children require essential supplies, but I cannot provide them because My salary is insufficient.
I will not stop teaching; I am committed to fulfilling my mission even if my salary is low. It is my duty to carry on what those before me did in teaching, so that the educational situation does not deteriorate further. Even if the situation is difficult, I want my children to get knowledge and good education, and God willing, they will have better opportunities in the future.
4:57-05:47
Mohammed Abdulrahman Al-Massni, the head of the parents' council at Saeed Hassan Fare’a School
Impossible. It is impossible for me to decide that my children should not receive an education. However, many children and young people stopped their education due to the conditions of war and the search for a livelihood.
Without the intervention of organizations and charitable people in the area, we would not have been able to continue education, especially in terms of food security and financial support. Additionally, the presence of qualified teaching staff during the war continued despite the lack of salaries. Nonetheless, the teaching staff has continued to perform effectively with the support of the community and organizations.
I call on all my students who are dropping out of school and those in the streets, especially the displaced, to go back to school. We will certainly support them, along with organizations, the community, and businesspeople. We will stand by anyone who wants an education.
6:01-7:12
Taha Noman Abdullah Al-Ghaili, Director of Education, Ash Shamayatayn District
We, in Shamaytin district, may not suffer the direct impact of the war directly on schools as the area borders the contact areas and war zones, but the issue was the displacement of many students in the northern areas or northern governorates to the southern governorates, especially in the southern part of Taiz governorate, which is the Shamaytin district, which has borne a high share of the displacement from Sana'a and the southern part of Taiz governorate: of the displacement from Sana'a and displacement from Taiz City from the districts where the war is taking place. This created an obstacle for us, as schools could no longer accommodate students in addition to the fact that salaries were completely cut off.
But nevertheless, we continue the educational process as much as we can with the resources available to us.
We thank the partners who stood with us during the war period, and we appreciate their efforts.
7:22-7:47
Dr. Mohammed Omar Basaleem, Head of the Technical Office at the Ministry of Education, Aden
We find a huge number of interventions that start first by supporting rural teachers in order to sustain the education process because employment stopped as is known in the Yemeni Republic, as well as incentives for volunteer teachers, also contributed to the stability of the educational process also support for the printing of school’s books.
7:47-8:29
Laura Frigenti, GPE CEO
GPE has stood by Yemen throughout the conflict. Funding of over $125 million has helped rehabilitate destroyed schools, provide students with psychosocial support, school supplies and school meals, pay teacher salaries, and strengthen local capacity to provide education.
We have brought together national and global actors and mobilized resources that have been critical in preventing the collapse of the education system.
This is extremely important. Only with education can Yemeni children acquire the skills they need to build their future and contribute to their countries’ recovery, economic prosperity and peace.
1. VNR
2. Laura Frigenti, CEO, Global Partnership for Education (GPE)
3. Rana Al-Muraqab, Environmental and Social Safeguarding Coordinator – REAL Project, Yemen Country Office, Save the Children
4. Hala Suliman, Head of Program, Aden Office in Yemen, World Food Programme (WFP)
5. Gawad Mohamed, Education Specialist, UNICEF Yemen
26 March 2025
