Youngsters Parliament elections in Yemen centred on renewable vitality, schooling campaigns – Yemen
Children fighting for their seat in the Yemeni children’s parliament prioritize improving education and renewable energies, Save the Children and the Democracy School announced today.
In the 9th round of voting since it was founded in 2000, around 240,000 children have participated in the children’s parliament in voting, in the election campaign or in supporting the election campaigns of other children.
In 2021, more than 193 children from 9 regions took part in the final round of voting and a total of 38 children were elected. Among them, 18 girls will represent Yemeni children in their parliament.
Their role is to make children aware of their rights and enable them to use their own voice to make meaningful change and contribute to the peace process. In the past they drew attention to several issues related to their rights and forced recognition of these issues as serious threats to the children that directly affect their lives. During the election campaign, the children’s demands for better access to education, which were the target of attacks by conflicting parties, focused.
Xavier Joubert, Save the Children’s Country Director for Yemen said:
“Children in Yemen are hardest hit by the war. They have been targeted by all parties in this conflict, they have been starved to death and they have been forced out of education. We need to hear their voice and empower them to stand up for children’s rights. “
“Save the Children has been supporting the Children’s Parliament for 21 years as it is one of the few opportunities for Yemeni children to be heard at higher levels and to raise awareness of current issues. Adults have a responsibility to create spaces where children can contribute to public debates and decision-making processes. That is the least we can do for them. ‘
Sami H. Alfakih, Democracy School Program Manager, said:
“Despite the difficulties and compelling circumstances the children are going through in Yemen, the participation and enthusiasm has been remarkable, especially from the girls.”
“There are no words to describe what we saw. We saw light in the eyes of these children as the Children’s Parliament is the last word for Yemeni children to be heard. From this point of view, it is important to continue working on these types of capacity building opportunities to keep the Yemeni Children’s Parliament as a beacon for governance of children’s rights for all children in the world. ‘
After the 9th round of voting for representatives of the Children’s Parliament of Yemen, Save the Children and the Democracy School congratulates all elected members.
Some of the issues that the Children’s Parliament has dealt with in the past are child trafficking, child labor, access to education, early marriage, displacement, corruption and the involvement of children in conflict.
The Children’s Parliament has been supported by Save the Children since 2000 in cooperation with the Democracy School.
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Note to the editor
The children’s parliament in Yemen is one of the attempts to enable children to have a greater say in expressing opinions on their issues and to ask many government and non-government parties about their rights.
In areas under the control of the de facto authority, the activities of the Yemen Children’s Parliament have been banned and therefore no elections have been held in these areas.
Members of the Children’s Parliament have been able to meet many government and non-government officials and draw attention to various issues related to their rights, forcing these issues to be recognized as serious threats to the children that have a direct impact on their lives, health and stability of children breaking the law, child trafficking, children’s rights in national legislation, compulsory education; Fight against corporal punishment in schools and other child-related facilities; Corruption and its impact on children, the status of displaced children, the rights of children with special needs and the urgency to increase the proportion of children in the national budget.
The Children’s Parliament presented the first shadow report on the situation of children drawn up by the children themselves and carried out various field visits that resulted in detailed reports on child-related issues, including the registration of life events, the status of children in detention, the status of Children in health centers and hospitals.
Members of the Children’s Parliament have also discussed reports prepared by the government on the extent to which the obligations under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (ICR) and the two protocols are being applied.
