GENEVA, 27th February, 2023 (WAM) — The UAE affirmed that 2023 should be the year in which peace is achieved in Yemen, and all international efforts should be mobilised to put an end to the conflict, meet the legitimate aspirations of the Yemeni people, and strengthen peace and stability in the country and the region, commending the efforts of Hans Grundberg, UN Special Envoy to Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the mediation of the Sultanate of Oman.
This came during the participation of Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of State, in the donor conference organised by the Kingdom of Sweden and the Swiss Confederation, in cooperation with the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, to mobilise support for the 2023 Humanitarian Response Plan for Yemen. Also in attendance were the Secretary-General of the UN, Antonio Guterres; the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, Ignazio Cassis; and the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Johan Forssell, as well as numerous donor countries and international humanitarian organisations.
Al Kaabi affirmed the UAE’s commitment to assisting the Yemeni people, stating that since 2015, the UAE has provided Yemen with a total of US$6.6 billion in aid and a US$300 million deposit to bolster the local currency. Continuing this approach, and in addition to multilateral peace and development efforts in Yemen, the UAE is also supporting reconstruction and rehabilitation projects this year with approximately US$325 million to improve the healthcare, renewable energy, and agriculture sectors, including a major project to build a dam for irrigation purposes.
Al Kaabi added, "The UAE welcomes ongoing negotiations to press the Houthi militias to show the required flexibility to ensure the success of the peace process. We thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its continued humanitarian assistance and efforts to advance the political process in Yemen.”
She concluded by stressing that the UAE believes that the time has come to shift our focus from managing the conflict to finding a solution to it, starting with renewing the truce and alleviating the humanitarian conditions experienced by the people of Yemen and the catastrophic consequences of the war. In this vein, Al Kaabi noted the importance of transitioning from emergency relief to recovery in order to foster sustainable development in Yemen.