Saudi Gazette report

New York — Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman, deputy premier and minister of defense, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday attended the signing of the joint executive program between the Kingdom and the United Nations represented by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for supporting and financing the UN Humanitarian Response Plan in Yemen for 2018.

The agreement includes $1 billion contribution from the Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, including $930 million to UN organizations and $70 million to rehabilitate ports and roads to increase the volume of relief items and commercial imports.

The Crown Prince met the UN secretary general at the UN headquarters in New York.

They discussed the Kingdom’s contribution to various UN programs in support of humanitarian and development efforts and their role in the maintenance of international peace and security in partnership with the UN.

Guterres thanked Crown Prince Muhammad for the contribution, which covers nearly a third of the total the UN is seeking for Yemen humanitarian aid this year.

He expressed appreciation for the Kingdom’s humanitarian contributions in the world and for the Yemeni people, its support and funding of the humanitarian response plan in Yemen.

The UN secretary general condemned the ballistic missile attack by Houthi militias on the Kingdom.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir called the meeting “very productive and comprehensive.”

He said the two talked about avoiding foreign intervention in Yemen, particularly from Iran.

Western countries and UN researchers have said that Iran is supplying arms to Houthis in Yemen.

On Sunday, the rebels fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Saudi Arabia. Fragments of one missile that went over Riyadh killed one person and wounded two.