iham (right) and her friends go through a Unicef leaflet about psychosocial support and mine risk education. Photo: Unicef/Yemen 2015/Al-Asaadi

After decades of underdevelopment, political instability, and local conflicts children in Yemen face an extremely challenging humanitarian situation. An upsurge of violence in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, has put more children than ever in danger. For 13-year-old Riham, even daily life is not safe.

Her school was caught in crossfire between government forces and armed groups. Hundreds of students were forced to evacuate classrooms soon after the clashes started. Riham’s school was hit by stray bullets, several landing on the rooftop. Luckily, no children were harmed.

“Although I heard the machine gun fire, I was not scared until a huge explosion rocked the entire school,” Riham said. “We were sitting in our classroom, waiting to write an exam. My classmates were crying, as none of us could complete our exams.”