In September 2000, representatives of the 193 United Nations member states agreed to achieve eight goals by 2015, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The first goal was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Comparing efforts before and after the Houthi control reveals a sharp increase in poverty and unemployment rates following their takeover of Sana’a in 2014, where youth poverty and unemployment reached about 54% and 45% respectively, among the highest globally.

According to the UN Development Programme 2023 report, 82.7% of Yemenis suffer from multidimensional poverty, including education, health, child and maternal health, services, living standards, and employment. UNICEF estimates for 2025 indicate a cash poverty rate nearing 80%, with some multidimensional poverty indicators exceeding 90%.

Comparing education before and after the Houthis’ control shows a severe deterioration in infrastructure and human capital, with widespread killing, displacement, kidnapping of students, and systematic impoverishment of the new generation. Dropout and school absence rates are increasing, with 4.5 million Yemeni children out of school in 2023, according to UNICEF’s representative Peter Hawkins, who described the situation as a “ticking time bomb” that could produce an illiterate generation lacking basic life skills.

Despite harsh conditions, some children strive to learn even in schools without walls or outdoors under trees. However, the Houthi de facto authority dismantles education by withholding teachers’ salaries, falsifying exam results, distorting curricula, and promoting ignorance and dogmatic ideology that glorifies their leadership and perpetuates their rule.

Source: Prof. Dr. Ahmed Al-Daghashi – Professor of Educational Foundations and Philosophy – Sana’a University