We did not expect that it would be the last safe night of our lives.
Suddenly one day we heard the sounds of war jets.
I want people in my generation to start using their voices and raise awareness
of what is happening in Yemen.
Yemen has been labeled the world's worst humanitarian crisis but when 60 percent of its population is under 25
what's it actually like growing up there?
This is Yemen.
Yemen before the war was really beautiful.
We had lots of mountains there was lots of greenery
you can grow fruit like everywhere.
We used to play in the streets freely.
We did not feel worried about being attacked
by air raids or missiles.
I was always playing with my friends after school
like football hide and seek and so on
We can hear Saudi coalition airplanes flying overhead.
Everyone in the house is really nervous.
I'm Nawal Al-Maghafi and I've been reporting on my home country of Yemen
for the BBC for nearly 10 years now.
Yemen's been troubled by civil war for decades
but violence intensified in late 2014 between Yemen's internationally recognised government
and a Houthi rebel movement.
We heard missiles, explosions and shelling.
We were shocked as we did not hear such sounds before.
The Houthi rebels backed by Iran took control of the capital city Sanaa.
The president asked for help from Saudi Arabia
who with other countries tried to take power from the Houthi rebels
and reinstate the government which had fled.
My father wasn't able to go to work.
Roads were blocked.
Five years of conflict have forced three and a half million people to flee their homes.
including my own sister who was on one of the first flights out.
Leaving Yemen was probably the hardest and most painful thing I've ever gone through.
I didn't just leave school I also left my family I left my friends
you know it really impacted me a lot and it was really hard.
There's been a lot of controversy about the parts other countries play in this conflict
with countries like the UK the US and France selling arms to Saudi Arabia
despite concerns that they could be used against civilians in Yemen.
Experiencing the conflict from afar has always made me feel just quite guilty
because I was there once.
So it makes me feel why did I get to leave? What did I do to deserve it?
Why me and not my cousins my friends?
It just kind of makes me really upset sometimes
just knowing that I don't have the power to help them.
I always watch on the TV how children around the world live in peace.
They fear nothing. There are no sounds of gunfire.
When I see that, I really feel sad for my country and children living here.
As well as the airstrikes two in three Yemenis aren't able to buy food.
Basic food prices have doubled and deliveries of supplies blocked.
Coronavirus has made the situation worse.
Electricity, fuel and cooking gas are not available anymore.
Due to poverty, Covid-19 and war, our days as Yemenis are dull. We cannot go anywhere.
We've now seen what it's like to live through one of the world's worst humanitarian crises
but what do the young people want you to know about their country?
I really want the world to look at the positive side of Yemen.
I know that Yemen is experiencing a war.
However, Yemeni people are resisting that war. Yemenis are optimistic.
It's completely unfair for them to be paying the price for something that they didn't even commit.
I have big hopes that Yemen will return as it was and maybe better God willing.
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