An official from the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) urged allocating $350 million needed for the organization to operate in Yemen in 2018. Geert Cappelaere, Middle East and North Africa director at the UN childrens fund UNICEF, made the comments in Amman, Jordan after a visit to Yemen. “UNICEF is asking for 2018 alone for its humanitarian program close to $350 million. That is peanuts compared to the billions of dollars that are currently invested in fighting war,” Cappelaere said. "I was shocked last week in Sanaa by the hundreds... thousands of children who are begging in the streets," he added. Sanaa was Yemen’s former capital before Iran-allied militias overran and seized control over the territory, forcing the government to relocate to the temporary capital, Aden. "It is incredibly heartbreaking to see very small children stretching out their hands for some food or money", Cappelaere said. “I am appreciative of what the UNICEF official had to say about the suffering of children since the coup détat,” Yemeni Human Rights Dr. Mohammed Askar told Asharq Al-Awsat. Nevertheless, Askar pointed out that the international body is overlooking a very serious issue: Houthi militias continuing their recruitment of children. According to UNICEF itself, Houthi militias are responsible for the vast majority of child recruitment in Yemen. “It is better to call on these militias to stop recruitment, and they must be punished,” he said. UNICEF regional communications chief Juliette Touma had previously pointed out in a statement that 2,500 children were recruited to fight in Yemen. For his part, Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Iryani confirmed in a phone conversation with Asharq Al-Awsat that the government is confident world institutions “will give child recruitment a wider span of concern as it is a major crime against children.” “I visited the rehabilitation center, sponsored by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief, attending children recruited to fight in Marib,” Iryani said. They have helped out more than a single group of kids lead a normal life, he added. According to child testimonies, Houthi militants threaten to kill them if they do not fight—once more proving the brutality of the Tehran-guided militias against children in Yemen. KSReleif provides shelters to displaced people from provinces of Sanaa and Amran in Marib. According to the center, the process of aiding Amran and Marib targeted 300 displaced people under the inclusive humanitarian process plan in Yemen. These assistances come in in the framework of the relief and humanitarian project provided by the center across Yemen. “Child recruitment is not a new topic, but it has been ignored by a number of international and humanitarian organizations,” KSRelief spokesman Samer al-Jatili said. Jatili said that the King Salman Center contributed to the rehabilitation of 2,000 children, and now more than 200 children have been accommodated. “In 2017 militias continued to recruit and use children in battles,” he wrote in a letter to Asharq Al-Awsat. “Houthi militias used children under the age of 17 as fighters, of whom 268 were killed during the war, 58 were wounded and 122 others were captured—another 454 children continue to fight for the militias.”