UAE donates $100m to Yemen
Country has donated more than $2b in humanitarian support to the Gulf nation since 2015, official says
The UAE donated on Tuesday $100 million to support Yemen during 2017, and vowed unwavering support for the Yemeni people.
The donation was announced by Sultan Mohammad Al Shamsi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for International Development Affairs, during the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, held in Geneva, Switzerland.
Since April 2015, the UAE has provided more than $2 billion to support humanitarian operations, development and reconstruction in various sectors including infrastructure, health care and housing across Yemen. The aid had benefited 10 million Yemenis of whom four million were children, Al Shamsi said.
The aid included 172,000 tonnes of food supplies to address severe food shortages, polio vaccines for 488,000 children, medicines, medical supplies and ambulances for Aden, Taiz and Hodeidah, Al Shamsi noted.
The UAE also rebuilt or restored more than 270 schools and 40 hospitals and clinics across Yemen, the Riyan Airport in Hadramout province, as well as an airport and a seaport on Socotra Island to facilitate humanitarian delivery. Work is under way to restore the strategic Mokha Port that was liberated from rebel militias to use it as an additional port for delivering humanitarian aid in Taiz.
Cooperation is under way between the UAE and international organisations such as the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the World Health Organisation, and the International Committee of the Red Cross operating in Yemen, Al Shamsi said.
Aid provided by the UAE to support budgets, logistic capabilities and training programmes of the judicial authorities and police forces fulfilled an urgent need to provide security for international and local humanitarian organisations operating in Yemen, he added.
The UAE also took part in operations to restore security in Yemen including the recapturing of several areas such as the Yemeni port city of Mukalla from Al Qaida terrorists, he said, while stressing that the humanitarian situation in Yemen remains a top priority for the UAE.