UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed to a Saudi proposal to review the facts and cases cited in the report jointly with the coalition, his spokesman Stephan Dujarric said.
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It attributed 510 child deaths and 667 injuries to the coalition and 142 child deaths and 247 injuries to the Houthis.
Rights groups say the coalition has dropped internationally banned cluster bombs on civilian areas.
Saudi Arabia reacted angrily and demanded that the report be “corrected”.
The UN announced plans to amend last week’s “blacklist” of children’s rights-offending regimes, removing the Saudi-led coalition now attacking Yemen, amidst intense lobbying by the United States and strident objection from Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia had reacted with outrage to the coalition’s inclusion, with the Saudi ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, saying he was “deeply disappointed” and “disturbed”.
The coalition was responsible for 60 percent of child deaths and injuries past year, killing 510 and wounding 667, according to Ban’s report last Thursday, which also said the coalition carried out half the attacks on schools and hospitals.
“The timing of this report is most unfortunate because it comes as we are hoping for a breakthrough in the discussions in Kuwait leading to an agreement and hopefully an end to the conflict”, said Mouallimi.
The UN Secretary General attempted to sidestep the controversy surrounding the move, pointing out that the removal of Saudi Arabia from the list is temporary, and noting the importance that “the report reflects the highest standards of accuracy possible”.
“All government ministers are expected to return to Aden on Monday except for those participating in UN-sponsored peace talks [with the Shia Houthi group] in Kuwait”, a government source told Anadolu Agency.
He said his country and the coalition were committed to providing the United Nations with full and complete information.
The report – which was primarily drafted by Leila Zerrougui, the United Nations chief’s special representative for children and armed conflict – cited a “particularly worrisome escalation of conflict” in Yemen that saw a six-fold increase in the number of children killed and maimed there a year ago.
According to UNICEF in March, almost 320,000 children in Yemen are at risk of “severe acute malnutrition”.
Toner said Saudi Arabia has created an investigation commission to do just that.
The coalition had been listed in the appendix of the U.N’s annual report on children and armed conflict, under “parties that kill or maim children”, and “parties that engage in attacks on schools and/or hospitals”.
The move was followed by the removal of a Saudi-led coalition – now fighting Yemen’s Shia Houthi group – from a blacklist of children’s rights violators.
He criticised the United Nations report about Yemeni children for its “double standards” and slammed the worldwide organisation for overlooking Israel’s crimes against Palestinian children.
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“As this list gives way to political manipulation, it loses its credibility and taints the secretary-general’s legacy on human rights”, HRW’s deputy director Philippe Bolopion said.
