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UAE, Saudi Arabia announce $200 million Ramadan aid package for Yemen

Abu Dhabi - The funding is primarily for food, with a total of $140 million to be distributed through the World Food Programme.

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The UAE and Saudi Arabia have pledged $200 million for Yemen as a special humanitarian initiative during Ramadan, a UAE minister announced on Monday. Reem Al Hashimi, Minister of State for International Cooperation, said the donation is part of a $500 million joint initiative announced by both countries in November.

The funding is primarily for food, with a total of $140 million to be distributed through the World Food Programme.
Also read: Expected Ramadan, Eid dates in UAE

Addressing a Press conference in Abu Dhabi, Al Hashimi said the food distribution is expected to reach the families in the weeks leading to and during the month of Ramadan.

"The timing of this support was chosen to meet urgent needs and to ensure the delivery of aid assistance in the coming weeks to allow the Yemeni people to maintain their traditions and to practise the customs of the holy month of Ramadan," said the minister.

Around $40 million will be allocated to Unicef, especially for malnourished children and pregnant and nursing women as "women and children represent an important component of the UAE aid project".

Another $20 million will be given to the World Health Organisation to help control cholera and provide intravenous feeding fluids.

Al Hashimi said as the situation in Yemen "continues to be difficult", the UAE and Saudi Arabia are working together with humanitarian organisations to ensure that aid reaches all Yemeni governorates controlled by Houthis as well as the Yemeni government. "For the aid to be effective, it has to be transparent and non-discriminatory. And our aid goes to all those who need it," she added.

In February this year, the UAE and Saudi Arabia jointly pledged $1 billion for Yemen at a UN pledging conference in Geneva.

The UAE donations to Yemen between April 2015 and December 2018 for food aid, energy supply, and health services touched Dh19.86 billion, according to official figures. About 32 per cent was spent on humanitarian aid and 68 per cent for development programmes. The World Food Programme received the maximum donation at $287 million, followed by Unicef, which got $410 million.

The civil war in Yemen that started in 2014 - in which the Saudi-led Arab coalition is fighting the Houthi rebels to reinstate the legitimate government - has pushed the country into a hunger crisis, with more than 20 million of its population facing food shortages.

3,000 violations of Stockholm agreement

Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), said the Arab coalition - Saudi Arabia and the UAE in particular - is striving to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people due to the Houthi militias' violations of the Stockholm Agreement and its recommendations. The population's suffering has been intensified due to the militias' exploitation of the humanitarian crisis for their own military and political gains.

Al Hashimi said: "The Stockholm agreement has been violated 3,000 times (since it came into effect on December 18)."

The peace agreement included troop withdrawal from Hodeida and other ports and a prisoner exchange deal.

The minister also said the coalition has been working closely with the UN to ensure access to red sea mills that contains 51,000 metric tonnes of grain but "unfortunately at the very last minute, Houthis withdrew access to World Food Programme workers".

The grains under the Houthi-controlled area is worth $30 million and can feed 3.6 million people. "Every time we think we are close to a breakthrough ... we are all disappointed."

The minister said despite continuous efforts, and commitment, access is going to be an important component of aid distribution in Yemen. "And our greatest aspiration and our greatest hope is that peace agreement is reached so that we are able to deliver aid. We also want to begin the process of rebuilding infrastructure and strengthening the economy of Yemen," she added.

anjana@khaleejtimes.com