Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lokoc reiterated the UN Secretary General's statement, in which he welcomed the generous pledge by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to provide $ 1 billion to support humanitarian action in Yemen and their pledge to raise $ 500 million more from donors in the region. In a press statement today, he said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE had agreed with the United Nations on ways to transfer such funding by March 31. $ 930 million will be allocated to support Yemen's humanitarian response plan for 2018. The two countries have stressed the need to use funding solely on humanitarian grounds, regardless of any other considerations, he said. He pointed out that the Saudi and the UAE represents one third of the total amount of the United Nations Humanitarian Response Plan in Yemen of $ 2.96 billion. This pledge, once received, will reduce hunger, contain diseases, provide basic health care, water services and education and reduce the suffering of millions of Yemeni people throughout the country.
