Yemen to get $1.35 billion as humanitarian aid

Yemen will get the aid of $1.35 billion based on humanitarian efforts by international donors to assist the country in meeting its national needs.
Media reports said that Saudi Arabia hosted a virtual donor conference in partnership with the United Nations. During the conference, international donors pledged $1.35 billion of aid for Yemen.

The event followed a call by UN aid workers in Yemen for more than $2.4 billion to fund crisis aid, including medical supplies, food, and shelter, at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is making what was already a dreadful situation even graver. Humanitarian organizations need the funding to shore up their operations in Yemen, where 75 percent of UN programs have had to close or been scaled down because of a lack of money.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that aid workers face a race against time in Yemen. “Unless we secure significant funding, more than 30 out of 41 major United Nations programs in Yemen will close in the next few weeks,” he said.
He also thanked Saudi Arabia for its “continued commitment to the humanitarian aid to the people of Yemen.”

The Kingdom pledged $500 million during the conference’s opening ceremony.

Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed thanked the Kingdom for its donation and its role in Yemen in recent years. Describing the humanitarian crisis in his country, he said “a macabre tragedy is imminent.”Prince Faisal bin Farhan, the Saudi minister of foreign affairs, reiterated the Kingdom’s “firm commitment to alleviating the human suffering of the brotherly Yemeni people.”

He also passed on King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “deep appreciation to the United Nations for its efforts in providing humanitarian work through its agencies operating around the world, and in Yemen in particular.”He added: “The Kingdom has provided humanitarian aid since the beginning of the crisis, totaling more than 16 billion, nine hundred and forty million US dollars.”