Arab News, Thursday, Jan 20, 2022 | Jamada Al-Aakhirah 17, 1443
KSrelief, IOM sign $20m Yemen aid deals
Saudi Arabia:
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center
signed two agreements with the International Organization for Migration on
Yemen.
The deals, which have a total value of $20
million, were signed by KSrelief Supervisor General Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and
IOM Director General Antonio Vitorino.
The first deal, worth $15 million, will secure and
distribute shelter, aid and non-food items to displaced people in the
governorates of Marib, Taiz and Hodeidah. It will target 82,320 people from
internally displaced families and 20,580 people in host communities in Yemen.
The second agreement covers rapid intervention in
the water and sanitation sector in several Yemeni governorates, with the aim of
providing drinking water in impoverished areas, helping to reduce the spread of
disease.
It comes in addition to the reconstruction of
water and sanitation resources, and health awareness and hygiene programs, which
will help about 50,500 Yemenis through a $5 million investment.
Al-Rabeeah said that the two agreements “will help
hundreds of thousands of Yemenis who lack housing, shelter and food.
“They will also reduce the impact of humanitarian
violations that Yemenis face from the Houthi militia.”
He called on the IOM to “stand firmly against the
militia” and its “violations against refugees and internally displaced people,”
warning that the group had targeted refugee camps in Marib and Al-Jouf.
The militia has also banned the rollout of
COVID-19 vaccines, and imposes harsh taxation on refugees, Al-Rabeeah added.
He said that these practices, which “contradict
humanitarian laws,” are strictly rejected by the IOM.
Vitorino said that the two deals “reflect the
strategic partnership between the IOM and KSrelief,” and that they will “make a
difference in the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis who live under
difficult humanitarian conditions.”
He added that since 2019, the IOM in Yemen has
received more than $100 million of KSrelief support, which has “greatly
contributed to helping the country.”
Vitorino expressed his hope that the IOM will
provide urgent protection, assistance, healthcare and shelter for Yemenis in
need.
Yemen is among the top beneficiaries of KSrelief
assistance. In total, the center has implemented 647 projects in Yemen for a
total cost of more than $3.9 billion.
The center’s programs cover food security, water
sanitation and hygiene, health, education, emergency aid and nutrition.
KSrelief has implemented 1,814 projects worth more
than $5.5 billion in 77 countries. The initiatives were carried out in
cooperation with 144 local, regional and international partners since the
inception of the center in May 2015.
According to a recent KSrelief report, the
countries and territories that benefited the most from the center’s various
projects were Yemen ($3.9 billion), Palestine ($368 million), Syria ($322
million) and Somalia ($209 million).