Saudi-led Arab Coalition announces $1.5 bln in aid for Yemen

The Saudi-backed Arab Coalition in Yemen announced the provision of $1.5 billion in aid to the country on Monday.

The coalition added that they will make sure to keep all ports open including the Hodeidah port in order to continue receiving humanitarian aid for the Yemeni people, in light of the Houthis still blocking any aid to come into the country through the ports.

The announcement came following a Saudi Arabia’s $2 billion monetary aid to Yemen’s central bank to help the country’s currency.

“The coalition will coordinate $1.5 billion in new humanitarian aid funding for distribution across UN agencies and international relief organizations,” the coalition announced in a statement.

The coalition added that they aim to increase monthly imports to 1.4 million metric tons, from 1.1 million last year. The program seeks to open land, sea and air ways to Yemen in order for this increase to happen, they said in the statement.

The coalition pledged up to $40 million for the expansion of ports to accommodate additional humanitarian shipments, adding that it would set up an air corridor between Riyadh and the central Yemeni province of Marib to run multiple aid flights of C130 cargo planes.

The coalition said it would set up 17 additional “safe-passage corridors” to facilitate overland transport for humanitarian organisations operating in the remote interiors of Yemen.

“The coalition is placing its military resources at the disposal of these broad-ranging humanitarian operations,” said coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki.

“We are backing a professionally planned and detailed humanitarian mission with military power and precision to guarantee that the humanitarian aid reaches the people who need it to lift their suffering.”

source: Alarabiya