Advisor at the Royal Court and the Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah lauded the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations in hosting the high-level pledging event 2020 on Yemen, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all countries of the world. He stressed that Saudi Arabia will provide full support to Yemen, while calling on the United Nations and donor countries to honor their pledges to Yemen, which needs everyone's support and care. He expressed his happiness that the Kingdom hosted the first virtual conference to amass financial pledges of this size with the participation of the United Nations. He stated that the pledges for this year did not match last year's numbers due to COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying various humanitarian and economic crises in many countries of the world. Al Rabeeah said that the speakers unanimously agreed on the importance of reaching a political solution to the Yemeni crisis, as well as working to coordinate efforts to help Yemen to confront the Coronavirus pandemic. They also agreed to forge a better future for the nation while working to activate the three references (the Gulf initiative and its implementation mechanisms, the outcomes of the Yemeni national dialogue, Security Council Resolution 2216 ). Al Rabeeah thanked the United Nations and the staff of KSrelief for their efforts in organizing the event, which was an unmitigated success. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock too thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting this event. He announced the collection of $1.350 billion from the countries participating in the event, while stressing that the United Nations continues to support the Yemeni people. Al Rabeeah and Lowcock made these comments in a virtual press conference in Riyadh on Thursday after the conclusion of the Yemen High-Level Pledging Event 2020, which was organized by Saudi Arabia in partnership with the United Nations. Al Rabeeah confirmed that preserving people's lives is the supreme goal of all, noting that the pledges and commitments made are achieving results and will help to continue the humanitarian work and programs on the ground in Yemen. He stated that the work in Yemen is taking place with more than one organization, even with non-governmental and non-profit organizations, and the targeted goals include children who need food and save the health sector in Yemen with the presence of COVID-19 pandemic. He said that we hope that these pledges will be placed in the necessary channels in order to reach the programs and those who deserve them through aid, and those hindering and limiting humanitarian workers will be checked. The time has come for violators to allow the United Nations and the international community to provide assistance to save people's lives. On the continuity of providing aid to Yemen until the crisis end, Al Rabeeah confirmed that Saudi Arabia will continue to provide support to Yemen and all initiatives and procedures necessary to collect pledges to Yemen. "We started that before the event, and sooner rather than later we will provide this support," he added. He drew attention to the importance of working towards peace and for everyone to stand firm in support of a political solution, as Saudi Arabia is doing now. Lowcock said that the UN works in all of Yemen's 333 directorates, and has many who work in the humanitarian field there, risking their lives and may lose them, in addition to hundreds of humanitarian workers. He confirmed their commitment to deliver aid to beneficiaries independently and impartially, indicating that through the use of modern technology they are able to communicate with those who are deserving of assistance throughout the country and the regions most in need, and to communicate with people afterwards to find out if they have received food and medicine directly. He pointed out that they work according to very important methodologies through which research, support and communication are carried out with all people throughout the country, regardless of whoever works with them, whether it is from international organizations or from NGOs in an independent and impartial manner. Al Rabeeah asserted that the financial contributions to Yemen will be protected to ensure that they do not reach the Houthi militias through a monitoring system by a third party, adding that the Kingdom will be frank in expressing these violations if found. He added that we must be able to make it clear to the Security Council that these violations were taking place from one side or the other, and we must be careful in choosing the executing parties, and that the contracting parties must be credible. He pointed out that they are fully aware that there are credible NGOs and able to deliver this aid to those who deserve it, stressing that they will do what must be done to reduce the violations that occurred in Yemen and elsewhere, and that the goal is to prevent these violations and reduce them as much as possible. Mark Lowcock pointed to the support provided by Saudi Arabia to Yemen, which amounted to $500 million, expressing his hope to obtain the amounts announced during the event, which amounted to $1.350 million, urging the donors to fulfill their obligations so that the organizations do not close some of their programs due to insufficient funds. Al Rabeeah pointed out that the financial grants announced during the event will implement several projects by the United Nations agencies and international agencies per the prior work plans. He drew attention to the fact that Saudi Arabia, in addition to what it pledged to Yemen, had provided financial assistance five years ago, adding that the Kingdom will continue to support Yemen, including the support to combat coronavirus, and providing medical supplies, in addition to support the healthcare system with supplies that were transferred from Saudi Arabia to Yemen and same support related to food supplies. He added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has always supported financial pledge events, as it has supported financial pledge event in Syria, Iraq and the Rohingya people, stressing that Saudi Arabia is pleased to be part of any financial pledges event as a member of the United Nations and an essential partner when it comes to humanitarian aid. Lowcock pointed out that the event supports the initiatives presented by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by supporting the Central Bank of Yemen to ensure that the Yemeni rial maintains its levels, wishing Yemen to advance and move beyond this stage towards peace. He explained that humanitarian aid provided by the United Nations is not only aiming to provide food for 30 million people, but rather to help Yemen move forward to get out of this crisis and for people to be able to restore their economy by themselves. — SPA
