Saudi Arabia increases aid effort in Yemen

More than 20 million people in need of humanitarian assistance

A Saudi soldier guards an aid plane at an air base in Marib, Yemen. A multi-million dollar agreement was signed between the refugee agency UNHCR and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre Show more

A multi-million dollar agreement was signed between the refugee agency UNHCR and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre in support of Yemen's internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Six million dollars (Dhs22.4 million) were allocated to provide emergency response and relief items to civilians affected by war.

The agreement, which was signed by Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of KSRelief, and Khaled Khalifa, Regional Representative of UNHCR to the GCC countries, aims to support 126,000 displaced Yemenis with rental subsidies, core-relief items, and shelter kits among other aid items.

The deal, which is part of a wider cooperation between the UN agency and KSRelief, comes just days after Riyadh played host to Saudi Arabia's first International Humanitarian Forum. The two-day event took place under the patronage of King Salman and was organised by KSrelief.

The conference aimed to deliver new ways of dealing with the changing global humanitarian needs.

Meanwhile the Saudi-led Arab coalition spokesman on Wednesday said that 18,000 relief vessels are docked in Yemen, 22 relief posts are in operation and 959,000 Yemenis have so far benefited from aid provided by the coalition's humanitarian plan.

The United States said it welcomed efforts by the Arab coalition to support Yemen's legitimacy and the easing of the humanitarian crisis.

The spokesman also called for the protection of archaeological monuments and stressed the need to prevent the trafficking and smuggling of artefacts.

As Yemen's three-year war continues the US and three European allies condemned Iran, one of the conflict's main players. The United Nations said that Tehran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen by failing to block supplies of missiles and drones to Houthi rebels, AFP reported.

Britain, France, Germany and the United States urged Iran to "immediately cease all activities that are inconsistent or would violate" the UN resolution that established the arms embargo in 2015.

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