Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are the largest donors to the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, according to a top UN official.

George Khoury, deputy director of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), made the remarks after holding talks with Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor general of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), in Riyadh recently. Khoury is a former head of OCHA’s Yemen office.

At the meeting, which took place at KSrelief’s headquarters in Riyadh, the two officials discussed ways to strengthen the partnership between the two organizations and increase cooperation in crisis-affected countries worldwide.

Dr. Al-Rabeeah gave the UN official an overview of the center’s humanitarian work since its inception in May 2015.

In a press statement following the meeting, Khoury said the visit indeed served to strengthen the existing partnership between OCHA and KSrelief.

“The assistance provided by the center to humanitarian organizations operating in the Middle East is very generous,” he said.

The OCHA official added that he and Dr. Al-Rabeeah had discussed the importance of strengthening their partnership and bilateral cooperation in providing assistance to Yemen, Palestine, Syria and other countries in which the two organizations have worked together.

“As you know, there is a $3 billion humanitarian funding requirement for us to carry out relief work in Yemen during 2018. The Kingdom and the UAE have provided generous support by donating $1 billion to UN organizations for this plan,” Khoury said.

“The center,” he added, “also has a wide range of other projects implemented directly in Yemen, which are not being carried out through the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan.”

He concluded his remarks by thanking Saudi Arabia for its ongoing support. He said the Kingdom “is one of the largest donors of relief assistance” worldwide.

He also expressed his appreciation to KSrelief for its role in carrying out the Kingdom’s extensive humanitarian initiatives.