Saudi Arabia ranks biggest supporter of Yemen
Saudi Arabia has been described as the biggest supporter of Yemen, with the value of its country’s humanitarian and development aid to Yemen totalling nearly $17 billion USD.
This was disclosed on Tuesday June 2, 2020, by Saudi Ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al-Jaber.
While disclosing this at the virtual Yemen-Pledging Event organised by United Nation, Mohammed assured that Saudi Arabia would continue to serve the Yemeni people in numerous ways including medical, food, shelter, humanitarian and development supports.
The oil-rich Kingdom hosted the first virtual Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen on Tuesday, 2 June, 2020 with a high-level attendance of top Saudi Arabian and United Nations officials.
The Saudi envoy further stated Saudi Kingdom had pledged to support the war-torn country with its $500 million USD humanitarian and development fund.
In 2018 and 2019 alone, Saudi Arabia responded to the UN Humanitarian pledge for Yemen through the King Salman Humanitarian aid with $500 million and $750 million respectively.
Saudi Arabia has a long history of commitment towards providing support to Yemeni. The nearly 29 million population Arab country has been the number one humanitarian priority of Saudi Arabia, with a direct support valued at $7.8 billion USD since 2012.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has pledged a total sum of $25 million USD to help Yemen fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The virtual 2020-High level Pledging Event held on Tuesday came after several months of delay due to COVID-19 outbreak.
In addition to its humanitarian support, the country provides emergency health relief interventions for Yemenis with different health challenges. One of the key projects is the free medical treatment in Yemeni or Saudi hospitals for Yemeni civilians wounded and injured by the Iranian-backed Houthi Militia.