Saudi Arabia, UAE announce $500 million aid program for Yemen

A displaced Yemeni child sits on sacks of Saudi-provided humanitarian food aid at a camp in Yemen's northeastern province of Marib on January 26, 2018. (File/AFP)

• New initiative launched aims to secure food for 10 to 12 million people
• The program was announced by Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabiah, general supervisor of Saudi Arabia's King Salman Centre for Humanitarian Relief and Works

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and the UAE on Tuesday announced a new initiative, “Imdaad,” in Yemen to address the humanitarian situation in the country, including an additional $500 million aid program. The two countries will each give $250 million in response to the food crisis to support more than 10 million people, said Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, general supervisor at King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief).
The program was announced by Al-Rabeeah at a joint
press conference in Riyadh with UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation Reem Al-Hashimy.
Al-Rabeeah said the new initiative aims to fill the gap of food needs to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and ensure their access to food and nutrition for children in all regions and governorates of Yemen.
“We will coordinate with UN organizations to deliver aid to those in need in Yemen,” Al-Rabeeah said, adding that the coalition countries had provided $18 billion in aid to help Yemen over three years.
The latest aid package comes after the two countries and Kuwait offered $1.25 billion to the UN’s humanitarian response
plan in Yemen for 2018, according to Al-Rabeeah.
Al-Hashimy expressed her pleasure at being in Riyadh, and her sincere gratitude to Saudi Arabia, and the efforts of King Salman.
She added: “A new initiative to help our brothers in Yemen shows a common vision and one goal. This initiative aims to provide food needs for 10-12 million Yemenis, which are the most affected group.”
She explained that the launch of this initiative comes from the concern to help our brothers in Yemen to meet the difficult humanitarian conditions they live in.
The hope is to improve the lives of the population, especially as they focus on the most affected groups: Malnourished children, children under five, children in schools, women, pregnant women, nursing mothers and their families, as well as the elderly and people who suffer from diseases.
Al-Rabeeah said that the aim is to reach the people of Yemen who are deprived in coordination with international humanitarian organizations, to meet their needs and end their suffering.
He also Indicated that the Arab Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen provided $18 billion in three years to support the Yemeni people, stressing that the Houthi militias have taken over Yemen, including humanitarian aid, where they seized 65 aid ships and 124 relief convoys.
He also pointed out that Saudi Arabia will work only with international organizations that are keen on the interest of the Yemeni people.
Al-Rabeeah said that the biggest challenge is how to reach the deprived while the Houthi militias try to stop that from happening, noting the efforts made by the center to deliver humanitarian aid in Taiz governorate when it was under siege.
The secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen, stressed that the new initiative adds to the permanent support of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to the member states of the OIC, which are facing humanitarian crises.