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Al-Jawf (Agenzia Fides) – Thousands of children in three of Yemen's 21 governorates have stopped going to school for fear of being targeted by revenge killings, according to international NGO Partners-Yemen (PY), which is running an awareness campaign in the governorates of Al-Jawf, Marib, and Shabwa which run from north to south in central Yemen and where the tribal system is paramount in social and political life. The presence and influence of the official authorities here is still limited. PY has been getting children in schools that remain open to chant the slogan "To those who deprived me of my father; don't deprive me of my education", but thousands of children have stopped going to school for fear of crossing tribal boundaries. Revenge killings in the three governorates claimed the lives of 4,698 people between 1998 and 2008. 56% of the male population and 70% of the female population are illiterate. According to 2009 statistics from the government's Central Statistical Organization, 1.3 million people live in these three governorates where the illiteracy rate is 63 percent, compared to the national average of 41 percent. Dozens of people in the two tribes of Hamdan and Al-Shulan have been killed in revenge killings over the past 20 years. The conflict between the two tribes first broke out in the early 1970s over disputed land, with each tribe claiming ownership. Revenge killings have led to the closure of several schools, especially in al-Jawf and Shabwa governorates. In Marib, around 20 schools across the governorate are closed. As many as eight schools in Maraziq and Al Sayda areas have been closed for five years now. The Al-Nabub School in Nisab District, where around 500 students were enrolled, has been deserted for more than five years now. Few students have moved to other safer areas to complete their education; most have stopped going to school since then. The carrying of guns is commonplace in the three governorates. Parents teach their kids how to carry and use guns, as well as how to kill. PY's awareness campaign is designed to ensure a safe environment for children in school and has reached out to over 50,000 local women in the three governorates to promote girls' and boys' education and the need to protect students from revenge killings. the ineffective role of government institutions in these remote tribal areas, extreme poverty, and poor infrastructure are the key challenges facing awareness efforts. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 9/11/2010)
