Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan Coordinating Council Convenes In Abu Dhabi

Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan Coordinating Council convenes in Abu Dhabi

The UAE-Saudi Coordinating Council in charge of following up the joint US$1 billion financial contribution to Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) held their third meeting at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the UAE capital.

ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 08th Nov, 2018) The UAE-Saudi Coordinating Council in charge of following up the joint US$1 billion financial contribution to Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan (YHRP) held their third meeting at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in the UAE capital.

The meeting, held in the presence of representatives of UN agencies operating in Yemen, was chaired by Sultan Mohammed Al Shamsi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for International Development Affairs; Ahmed Al-Beez, Assistant Supervisor-General for Operations and Programmes at King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief); and Lise Grande, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen. It addressed the projects being financed by the two countries in Yemen and challenges besetting them. An overall evaluation of the impact of these projects on the humanitarian conditions in Yemen featured high on the meeting's agenda.

"The UAE and Saudi Arabia are determined to maximise the impact of the joint finance on its beneficiaries, particularly children and women, and to expedite its distribution across all Yemeni territories without exception in order to alleviate the suffering created by the acts of depredation perpetrated by the Houthi militias," said Al Shamsi.

"The meeting comes as part of efforts being made to bolster the strategic partnership between the two countries and the UN agencies operating in Yemen, with the ultimate goal of easing the suffering of the Yemeni people," he added.

The funds cover 44 percent of the $2.96 billion required to implement YHRP. It has helped expand the efforts being painstakingly exerted to ensure food security, fight cholera and support education in the embattled country, overall benefitting more than 10.6 million people, including 6.4 million children and 2.1 million women.

In more detail, the UAE-Saudi support included food aid to 6 million people and emergency assistance addressed to public health and sanitary drainage, from which millions of Yemenis have benefitted.

Up to 5,000 patients at 32 kidney treatment centres benefitted from the UAE-Saudi aid, which also included medical support to pregnant women and newborns in 78 medical facilities and vaccinations to 162,000 babies below one year of age.

The assistance also included up to 87,000 children below five years suffering from acute malnutrition in addition to providing medical consultations to 175,000 pregnant women and dietary supplements to 153,000 women.

Cash aid was as well provided to 47,000 people, while providing social and psychological protection to 12,500 kids.

Back-to-school campaigns have been organised from which 4,000 children benefitted, including provision of study utensils to 56 schools. Sheltering, non-food emergency aid has also been provided to 105,000 people and up to 115.1 thousand explosives were removed that saved the lives of 1.4 million people in addition to organising anti-mine awareness campaigns from which 301,000 people benefitted. Financial support was also provided to 20,000 households to relocate to safer areas.