RIYADH — The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) signed on Thursday three United Nations aid agencies — the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) — to provide more than $200 million of assistance to Yemen as part of Saudi Arabia’s contribution to the 2020 high-level pledging event for Yemen, which was hosted virtually in Riyadh in June of this year.

The three programs were signed during a virtual session by representatives of each of the four organizations: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, the supervisor general of KSRelief, David Beasley, the executive director of the WFP, Dr. Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and. Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR regional representative to the GCC.

The $138 million programs signed with WFP include the provision of urgent food aid to all parts of Yemen — 81,963 metric tons of wheat flour, vegetable oils, legumes, salt, preventive, and curative nutritional supplements, enriched wheat-soya, date biscuits, and high-energy biscuits. These food items will be purchased and distributed to some 8,900,000 people suffering from food insecurity across Yemen.

The program signed by KSRelief with the WHO has a total value of $46 million, and includes health-related initiatives such as WASH projects, programs to combat COVID-19, and anti-malnutrition initiatives. The program will also support 25 central hospitals across Yemen, providing medical equipment such as ventilators, monitoring devices, and intensive care equipment for COVID-19 patients.

The program will also support the operation of 223 health facilities, providing fuel to generate electricity, and supporting health education activities, health services packages, and coordination between partners in this field.

In the WASH field, the program covers several projects to combat cholera, improve WASH services in 45 health centers, and to support WASH activities in 117 directorates to improve public access to safe drinking water, and improve medical waste management practices to reduce disease risks and enhance water-quality monitoring.

In the area of combating malnutrition, the program supports 90 nutrition centers to provide ongoing nutritional services for people with severe acute malnutrition; the program will also provide treatment for medical complications, reduce the number of deaths from malnutrition, and spread awareness about safe food-handling practices in 222 directorates in 22 Yemeni governorates.

Treatment stations will also be opened and supplied to treat cases of malnutrition and to build local health care capacities in this regard. This project will benefit 23,428 Yemeni children. Isolation units to combating the spread of COVID-19 will be established and supplied with all necessary equipment and other requirements to fight the virus.

The third program was signed with the UNHCR with a total funding amount of $20 million. The program includes two projects: the first is the provision of shelter support, site management services, and non-food items to displaced families, returnees, and vulnerable host communities in Yemen. This project will benefit 421,384 people in the governorates of Hajjah, Ibb, Al Hudaydah, Dhamar, Saada, Al Mahwit, Amran, Sanaa, Al-Bayda, Taiz, Ma’rib, Al-Jawf, Al-Dhalea, Shabwa, Lahj, Aden, and Al-Mahra. The second project provides support for COVID-19 health response for refugees and displaced persons and will benefit 371,950 people in the governorates of Aden, Lahij, Hadramout, and Al Hudaydah.

In his remarks, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah affirmed the Kingdom’s pioneering role in the field of global relief and humanitarian work, adding that Saudi Arabia has always sought to stand with people in need, especially in Yemen. For the past several years, the Kingdom has been the largest supporter and financial contributor to humanitarian response plans in Yemen, he pointed out, stressing that Saudi Arabia’s ongoing, impartial support had helped the United Nations and its agencies save and improve the lives of millions of needy people in Yemen.

Dr. Al-Rabeeah concluded his remarks by stating that the programs signed on Thursday with these three UN agencies would contribute significantly to supporting the medical, food and WASH sectors and would help to provide vital services to Yemeni IDPs and others living under extremely challenging circumstances.

These programs are being funded by KSRelief as part of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing commitment to alleviating the suffering of the Yemeni people, in accordance with the generous directives of the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. — SPA