RIYADH/ ABU DHABI — The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will provide funding of $200 million for urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Yemen.

This funding, which is part of a $500 million donation — Imdaad — announced in November 2018, is an organized campaign of urgent assistance to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people by meeting basic needs in the sectors of food, nutrition, health and livelihoods in Yemen during the upcoming weeks.

This joint humanitarian initiative comes in cooperation with United Nations agencies, reaffirming the significant humanitarian role being played in Yemen by the coalition states, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The funding is allocated to UN partners: $140 million to the World Food Program to bridge the funding gap for food needs; $40 million to UNICEF to address sanitation issues and malnutrition among children and mothers; and $20 million to the World Health Organization to help control cholera and to provide intravenous feeding fluids.

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), said the coalition, in particular the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are striving to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people due to the Houthi militias' violations of the Stockholm Agreement.

Reem Al-Hashimy, UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, said that a large portion of this support will focus on women.

She pointed out the difficulties that hinder the delivery of aid to Yemen, mainly due to obstacles put in place by the Houthis, such as preventing beneficiaries from gaining proper access to humanitarian aid.

She said the timing of this support was chosen to meet urgent needs and to ensure the delivery of aid assistance in the coming weeks to allow the Yemeni people to maintain their traditions and to practise the customs of the holy month of Ramadan.

This initiative is in addition to the two countries’ previous pledges of $1 billion, and the $250 million provided by Kuwait. — SG