UAE offered AED6 bn in foreign aid to Yemen from 2015 to 2016

From April 2015 to November 2016, the United Arab Emirates has provided nearly AED6 billion (US$1.6 billion) in foreign aid to Yemen as part of its efforts to provide development, security, stability and peace in Yemen.

The assistance, offered in line with the UAE's humanitarian and development response towards the crisis in Yemen, covered three sectors, mainly development, humanitarian, and charitable aid, and aimed to help Yemen overcome its current crisis and maintain its stability and territorial integrity.

The UAE provided urgent humanitarian assistance worth AED1.8 billion ($507.3 million) which represented 30.5 per cent of the total assistance provided to Yemen in the period under review. The assistance included food, medicines, medical supplies and equipment, and ambulances.

Development assistance was worth AED4.1 billion ($1.2 billion). The breakdown showed that AED929.7 million ($253.1 million) was channelled into the energy and electricity sector; AED486.8 million ($132.5 million) was poured into the transport sector; AED277.6 million ($75.6 million) was given to the health sector; AED161.8 million ($44 million) was given to the education sector; AED19 million ($5.2 million) was channelled into the water and sewerage sector, and AED452.5 million ($123.2 million) funded the government and civil society sector.

In addition to that, total pledges committed by the UAE to international multilateral organisations operating in Yemen stood at AED123.8 million ($33.7 million).

Of these contributions, AED36.7 million ($10 million) went to the International Committee of the Red Cross, AED22 million ($6 million) to the World Food Programme, AED7.3 million ($2 million) to the United Nation Children's Fund and AED53.3 million ($14.5 million) to the World Health Organisation.