YEMEN CHARITY DRIVE IN THE NAME OF ZAYED

Emirates Red Crescent’s cash gifts to families in liberated provinces

Yemeni families wearied by war and a humanitarian crisis can be thankful that this Eid Al Adha will be one with food on the table and gifts for children.

Emirates Red Crescent is determined to shed some light into the difficult lives of those in the 80 per cent of the country that was liberated by the Saudi-led coalition.

The coalition, including the UAE, is working to restore Yemen’s legitimate government.

The charity will deliver meat, toys, clothes, money and shopping coupons to families in each of the 11 provinces not in Houthi rebel control.

The Zayed Legacy for the People of Yemen initiative, named after the Founding Father, was launched yesterday to spread joy among families of the martyrs and those wounded.

This is in addition to more than Dh7.5 billion spent by UAE organisations on relief and development projects in the country over the past two years.

“Sheikh Zayed has built many things in Yemen, like a bridge, houses and hospitals since 1970, and his sons will continue the same projects,” said Mohammed Al Falahi, chairman of the charity.

“So now those families who lost their fathers in the war, we want to share some joy with them, as we shared their sorrow.

“There are teams in Mareb, Hadramout and Aden who are studying the areas’ needs.

“Their job becomes more challenging by the day, whether in terms of logistics or Houthi militias and extremists trying their best to destroy the coalition’s efforts to create stability and security.

“But of course, this has not stopped us.

“The more challenging it becomes, the more determined we are to help.”

The UAE has rebuilt more than 300 schools across the 11 provinces, and has renovated and equipped more than eight major hospitals and hundreds of clinics.

In Aden, 100 houses have been rebuilt and in Socotra, the charity is working on a huge project that will involve residential compounds, hospitals and schools. So far 350 houses have been delivered.

“Whenever a province was liberated, humanitarian efforts followed to aid the people,” Mr Al Falahi said.

“The minute Aden was liberated, the UAE teams rushed to aid and rebuild on the same day.”

Fahad bin Sultan, deputy secretary general for fundraising and marketing at the charity, said the primary focuses after liberation were health and education.

“Of course, the circumstances of Yemen are a bit different so we are working on special programmes that involve orphans, mothers and child development, and supporting students and universities in terms of maintenance and providing dormitories, required tools and equipment,” he said.

“We want Yemen to return better than it was.”

The UAE has so far only been able to provide comprehensive assistance in the 11 liberated provinces.

“The situation on the ground is stable and we haven’t faced any problems there,” Mr bin Sultan said.

“People came out of the blockade eager to co-operate with us.

“We received hundreds of volunteers who worked with us for free. They could not wait to get out of the starvation, blockade

and chaos to rebuild and rehabilitate schools.”

For those areas yet to be freed, the ERC has been sending medical assistance through international organisations.

“We have been receiving many requests for assistance from inside Sanaa but we cannot deliver the aid. When we reach the checkpoint, we are rejected,” Mr Bin Sultan said.

“The solution for them is to either move to the liberated areas or rely on the aid of international organisations.”

Mr Al Falahi said he was confident people in the UAE will again dig deep to support the initiative. Between April 2015 and the end of June this year they have donated Dh1.4 billion to ERC projects in Yemen.

“This figure came solely from people’s support, not from the Rulers,” he said.

At least 4,000 civilians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the war in Yemen.