UAE’s $4bn in aid to Yemen makes it second-biggest humanitarian donor to a neighbour in great need
The UAE is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Yemen after Saudi Arabia, according to an international report.
The UN’s Financial Tracking Service said yesterday that the UAE was the second-biggest backer of Yemen’s Humanitarian Response Plan this year.
About 25 per cent of funding for the US$2.9 billion (Dh10.65bn) plan came from UAE contributions, behind Saudi Arabia, which contributed 28 per cent. In third place was the United States, which provided just over 10 per cent of the funding this year.
The report monitored humanitarian assistance to Yemen since the start of the year.
The Emirates alone has pledged nearly $4bn in aid over three years to ease the humanitarian crisis, making it Yemen’s second-largest donor.
The UAE’s humanitarian campaign, represented by the Emirates Red Crescent, has stepped up operations since last year. It has provided aid to humanitarian and reconstruction efforts across several liberated Yemeni governorates, state media said.
The Arab Coalition – which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE – intervened in the civil war in Yemen in 2015 to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels at the request of the internationally recognised government of Yemeni President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced that it would grant Yemen petroleum products worth $60 million a month to power electricity stations and boost the national currency.
Mohammed Al Jaber, Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Yemen, wrote in a tweet that the aid would provide relief to “the Yemeni people, who have been suffering” from terrorism.