UNHCR in Sana'a managed to continue prioritizing all child protection activities throughout 2019 targeting unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), child refugee (CR) and children with disabilities (CWDs) and a total of 1,850 children were assisted with different types of child protection assistance.
An increase of 11% in reported cases of child abuse, neglect, violence and exploitation was observed (49 cases) compared to 2018 (44 cases) mainly due to poverty, psychological burden and despair.
433 children received cash assistance which is an increase of some 27% compared to last year with CWDs being the highest number, followed by UAC.
Attendance at the Family Centre has decreased by 23.3% (647 refugee and Yemeni children in 2019 compared to 843 in 2018) which is attributed to: the inability of parents/children to afford transportation and the far distance of the centre from many residential areas. 47 CWDs were enrolled in the rehabilitation centre, and 14 of them were further enrolled in an early intervention educational program. Many UAC expressed their interest to continue to Saudi Arabia for the search of jobs and thus, three sessions on the risks of smuggling and trafficking were conducted targeting 72 UASC. Efforts to enhance community-based child protection structures continued and six child protection committees' meetings were held, and in addition, children members of the committees were consulted in designing the FC activities and conducted peer-to-peer awareness sessions. Support to 10 refugee and IDP children (6 boys, 4 girls) in the Yemeni Children’s Parliament continued and UNHCR attended a parliament's session in which the staff talked about UNHCR work in the field of CP.
UNHCR’s child protection focal point attended three monitoring and reporting mechanisms technical working group (MRM TWG) meetings as part of UNHCR’s active participation in inter-agency protection efforts.
Unaccompanied children, separated children and other children at risk (including children with disabilities, neglected and street children, children engaged in child labour, chronically sick children) were supported through UNHCR partner with close monitoring by UNHCR. Unaccompanied non-Somali children approached UNHCR for refugee status determination. They were registered, counselled and referred to partners for care arrangement. A total of 122 (109 boys, 13 girls) unaccompanied children and 43 (20 boys, 23 girls) separated children were identified.
A monthly average of 108 children are in care arrangement in Attakafol government social centre, among them 149 (93 boys, 56 girls) were identified as children at risk. Case management meetings were held for 314 new child protection cases; as part of the case management process, 178 BIAs were conducted. 1,467 cash grants were distributed for children with protection concerns.
171 children with disabilities attended the two Early Learning Centres in Aden and Kharaz camp, where they were provided with exclusive education, physiotherapy and assistive devices. 17 children with disabilities were referred from Early Learning Centers to primary schools.
During the year, 90 awareness-raising sessions were conducted on physical and psychological violence and child protection, reaching a total of 2,081 individuals (1,235 women, 593 men, 137 boys and 116 girls). A monthly average of 876 children benefited from semi-structured collective psychosocial activities (recreational and education activities) in the Child Community Center in Basateen.