UN applauds Saudi Arabia’s global humanitarian efforts

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia won laurels from the United Nations on Wednesday for its continuous global aid and relief efforts.
Visiting UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien thanked the Kingdom “for its generosity toward those in the world that have the least.”
Addressing a press conference at the UN House Auditorium in the Diplomatic Quarter, O’Brien also thanked the Kingdom for the hospitality accorded to him.
The UN humanitarian chief, who is visiting Saudi Arabia for the second time, said: “I would like to thank Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman as well as the Saudi government and the people for the warm welcome I received,” adding that he was pleased to meet key Saudi officials.
O'Brien also expressed his appreciation for the strong and growing partnership between UN humanitarian and relief agencies and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSHARC) in the region and other parts of the world.
“The establishment of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center in 2015 has been a continuation of the Kingdom’s philanthropy to the international community’s efforts to support people in need,” he said.
KSHARC’s generosity, he added, had “a real impact in Yemen and elsewhere.”
“In my meeting with KSHARC’s Supervisor General Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, we discussed how our two entities can better work together in a more complementary and efficient way,” he said, adding that “it’s critical that we together, collectively, do our utmost best to help families and communities in urgent need by respecting core humanitarian principles and values.”
He added: “I am encouraged by the willingness of the authorities in the Kingdom to work closely with the UN and our humanitarian partners to improve and facilitate the humanitarian action in the MENA region and beyond.”
He pointed out that his last visit to Yemen was an opportunity to see the deteriorating situation on the ground, and stressed the need to find a political solution to the crisis as soon as possible.
Yemeni citizens are suffering from an extreme shortage of food and lack of health care, he said, adding that out of 28 million inhabitants, only 7 million Yemenis have access to food and nearly half of the population is in desperate need of humanitarian and health services.
The UN aims to reach out to around 3 million citizens in Yemen a month to provide them with their basic needs, said O'Brien.
His visit to the Kingdom, he said, was at the same time an opportunity to discuss the desperate humanitarian situation in Yemen.
“Today, I met with key officials and officers from the Ministry of Defense, including members of the Humanitarian Operation Cell and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We all agreed that the utmost must be done to save and protect lives in Yemen, in accordance with the international humanitarian law,” he said.
He added: “We discussed the facilitation of humanitarian access and that we must rely on facts for impartial and neutral action.”
O'Brien also met with Gulf Cooperation Council Secretary General Abdullatif Al-Zayani, with whom he discussed the situation in Yemen and how “we can mutually support our efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people.”
He met in Riyadh with Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to discuss the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in his country and the need to ensure the protection of civilians as hostilities continue and intensify.
“As in all humanitarian crises around the world, there is absolutely no time to waste. While the humanitarians will continue to provide aid to all those in need, there is an urgent need for a durable political solution to the crisis, beginning with a cessation of hostilities,” he said.