DUBAI: Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates pledged $200 million in aid to Yemen, to be spent during Ramadan, the UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation said on Monday.
Both countries are working with humanitarian organizations to ensure the aid will be distributed in both Houthi and government-controlled areas, Reem Al-Hashimy told a press conference in Abu Dhabi.
Preventing the humanitarian aid from reaching Yemeni people is a war crime, Abdullah Al-Rabeea, the general supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) said during the press conference.
Al-Rabeea called on the UN and the international community to take a firm stand against such violations committed by the Iran-backed Houthis.
Saudi Arabia has a mechanism, which it uses and with the help of international organizations, to monitor the safe delivery of aid, but it is a joint responsibility with the international community to ensure these shipments are safely delivered to those in need, Al-Rabeea added.
Saudi and UAE have offered one of the biggest aid donations in history of UN to Yemen, the KSRelief chief said.
Houthi militia are using starvation as a political tool against the Yemeni population, he added.
The militants are blocking access to Red Sea Mills in Hodeidah, which holds enough food to distribute for 3.7 million Yemenis in need.
The UN described the conflict in Yemen as one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, where nearly 80 percent of the population require assistance and protection.
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