Saudi, UAE offer $500ml in aid to war-torn Yemen

RIYADH

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have offered $500 million in aid to ease the difficult humanitarian situation in war-torn Yemen.

“The initiative aims to secure food for around 10-12 million Yemenis,” Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Rabiah, the supervisor of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, told a press conference on Wednesday.

He said Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait had offered $1.25 billion for UN humanitarian efforts in Yemen.

“We are coordinating with UN organizations to deliver aid to those in need in Yemen,” he said.

Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are part of a Saudi-led coalition that has launched a massive air campaign against Shia Houthi rebels, who overran much of Yemen in 2014.

Human rights groups have blamed the Saudi-led coalition for creating the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, an accusation vehemently denied by the military coalition.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday that more than 11 million children need humanitarian assistance in Yemen.

“They're bearing the greatest brunt of over three and a half years of devastating conflict,” the WHO's country office in Yemen said on Twitter.

The four-year conflict has devastated Yemen’s infrastructure, including water and sanitation systems, prompting the UN to describe the situation as “one of the worst humanitarian disasters of modern times”.