Yemen

IBBY Yemen is the emerging national section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY). It operates in Yemen as a cultural, educational, and psychosocial recovery initiative dedicated to children affected by conflict, economic hardship, and limited access to safe learning resources. The section uses children’s literature, creative expression, and community-based psychosocial support as tools for emotional recovery, resilience building, and child protection. IBBY Yemen focuses on empowering Yemeni writers, illustrators, and educators, developing high-quality local children’s content, and creating safe cultural spaces that nurture imagination, identity, and healing. By connecting Yemeni children’s literature with global networks, IBBY Yemen gives local creative work the opportunity to reach international platforms while strengthening reading culture and psychosocial wellbeing within communities.

Vision

A Yemen where every child has the right to safety, reading, and emotional healing.

“Towards a Yemen that reads… building childhood with ink, not war.”

Mission

To promote reading culture and creativity among children and young people in Yemen, strengthen the children’s literature sector, and build psychosocial resilience through books as tools for education, healing, and community recovery—while linking Yemeni initiatives to international recognition channels through IBBY networks. 

• Promote children’s love for reading and writing.
• Integrate reading as a psychosocial and educational recovery tool.
• Elevate Yemeni children’s literature and provide safe, high-quality cultural content.
• Deliver art- and story-based psychosocial support programs.
• Build capacities of Yemeni writers, illustrators, and educators.
• Publish an annual Yemeni Children’s Book Honour List.
• Nominate Yemeni works for international awards and platforms.
• Connect Yemeni stakeholders to IBBY global standards and networks.
• Support sustainable reading spaces in schools and community libraries.

• 14 January 2026: Founding Ceremony Presentation