Yemen Report
Children of war-hit Saada governorate suffer psychological problems
A four-year conflict between
Yemeni government forces and
Shia rebels in the northern
governorate of Saada, which
borders Saudi Arabia, has
caused psychological problems
for children and had an adverse
effect on their behaviour,
according to a new study [see:
http://www.seyaj.org/detail.asp
?id=136&sec_no=9&date=22/11/2008 – available only in
Arabic].
An IRIN report on the
background to the conflict
which has seen hundreds killed
and thousands displaced since
2004, is available online:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report
.aspx?ReportId=79410]
Titled The Psychological and Behavioural Effects of Saada
War on Children, the report
was conducted by local NGO
Seyaj Organisation for
Childhood Protection and
was released on 22 November
in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital.
It
aimed to measure the psychological
and behavioural
impacts of the war on children,
specifically those living
in more volatile areas, as well
as studying its overall affect
on the life of children, their
families, their surroundings
and their education.
For the purposes of the
study, 1,018 children – 629
boys and 389 girls – aged
seven to 15 were selected
randomly from Razeh District
in Saada and other
surrounding areas that were
embroiled in the four-year
conflict.
“We tried to have equal
numbers of female and male,
but social customs there made
it difficult for us to interview
more girls,” Ahmed al- Qurashi, head of Seyaj
Organisation, said, adding
that Razeh District was
selected as it was one of the
first areas in the governorate
where conflict took place and
yet the study team could
move freely there without
security concerns.
Between 13 September and
13 November respondents
were asked a number of questions
based on those in
previous studies conducted in
war-zone areas, such as Iraq
and Palestine.
Fear, bed-wetting
and introversion
The study showed that 45% of
respondents feared loudsounds
such as thunder. “Such
sounds are linked in children’s
minds with the sounds of
rockets, bombs and bullets,”
al-Qurashi said.
Some 22% of respondents
suffered from enuresis (bedwetting)
while sleeping.
Experts say in normal times
this rate should not exceed
15%. Some six percent of
respondents suffered from
enuresis while awake. This is
an indication of their deteriorated
psychological condition
and their inability to control
the functions of their bodies,
the study said.
About five percent of the
respondents said they sometimes
faint upon seeing armed
people or hearing thunder or
bullets.
The study further said that
16% of respondents expressed
a desire to cry but did not
because they were brought up
in communities where crying
is considered shameful. “This
indicates the extent of their
depression and grief,” the
study said.
Some 21% of respondents
showed strong signs of introversion
and seclusion while
63% had nightmares and
disturbing dreams during sleep.
About 22% of the sample
children were thinking of
leaving school because of
poverty and the deteriorated
economic conditions in their
areas. 
4 million children targeted in polio campaign
Health teams have carried out a national antipolio
campaign inn Yemen with the aim of
being able to declare the country polio free by
2009, according to the Ministry of Health and
Population (MoHP).
The three-day campaign, which began on 17
November, is targeted some 4,180,000 underfives
in all 21 governorates.
Doses of Vitamin A were also administered
during the campaign to raise the level of the
children’s immunity to other diseases.
Some 18,000 mobile teams are carried out the
door-to-door campaign. Another 2,000 teams
gave children polio vaccines in health centres.
In 2005, 479 polio cases were confirmed in
Yemen during a serious polio outbreak, which
led to the MoHP adopting a door-to-door
vaccination strategy.
Since February 2006 no
polio cases have been reported.
According to IRIN News Ghada al-Haboub,
deputy head of the Ministry of Health's
National Vaccination Centre, said the mobile
teams had encountered various obstacles.
Some families refused to have their children
vaccinated, saying, “the vaccines come from
outside Yemen and are manufactured solely to
cause diseases in the Arab world,” she said.
Others were fearful of “strange substances”
entering the bodies of their children, saying
such things were against their religion.
Date
of upload: 25th January 2009
