UN Appoints Lise Grande As Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen

Lise Grande, then-UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, Iraq October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
Lise Grande, then-UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, Iraq October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
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UN Appoints Lise Grande As Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen

Lise Grande, then-UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, Iraq October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari
Lise Grande, then-UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, Iraq October 13, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

The United Nations has recently chosen its former humanitarian coordinator in Iraq, Lise Grande, to assume the same task in Yemen, succeeding Jamie McGoldrick, who was accused by the Yemeni legitimate government of being biased towards the Houthi rebels.

In the first meeting between Grande and the Yemeni leadership in Riyadh on Sunday, Foreign Minister Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi asked the new UN coordinator to take decisive positions on the violations committed by the Houthi rebels, as well as to set clear criteria for the distribution of humanitarian aid in different regions of the country.

The legitimate government is expecting that Grande would be able to overcome the multiple obstacles imposed by the Houthi militias on the work of the humanitarian organizations operating in their areas of control and to succeed in the smooth implementation of the desired relief projects and the flow of various aid to the targeted groups.

The new UN coordinator in Yemen has a wide experience in humanitarian and relief work with the United Nations since 1994. She has previously served as the United Nations resident coordinator and representative of a UN development program in India. She was responsible for coordinating humanitarian affairs in Iraq during the last three years.

Grande has also served in UN missions in Armenia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Haiti, Palestine, Southern Sudan, Sudan and Tajikistan, in addition to her wide participation in UN peacekeeping missions.

Yemeni President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi underlined, during his meeting with Grande on Sunday, the importance of UN efforts in Yemen to provide the urgent needs of the war-stricken population, which is suffering from the repercussions of the coup imposed by Houthi militias.

He added that he hoped that all UN representatives would “support the Yemeni people and convey the reality of their sufferings and the tragedies and violations committed by the militias against them while disregarding the relevant international and UN resolutions, including resolution 2216,” according to Yemen’s national news agency.

The UN official hailed President Hadi’s efforts to get Yemen out of the current crisis and move towards the future.

“We are ready to provide all kinds of support to Yemen to overcome its difficult challenges at the humanitarian and medical levels,” she said, expressing gratitude for the support and facilitation provided by the Yemeni government to the UN staff.



Egypt, Zambia Discuss Need to Promote Integration Within African Countries

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
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Egypt, Zambia Discuss Need to Promote Integration Within African Countries

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi received on Monday his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema in Cairo (Egyptian Presidency)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema, have stressed the crucial need to promote cooperation and integration within Africa as part of their countries’ commitment to fostering stability in the continent.

Egypt’s presidential spokesman, Mohamed el-Shennawy, said Monday that the two leaders held a closed-door meeting, followed by expanded discussions that involved the two countries' official delegations.
They also witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation agreements between the two countries, the spokesman said.

Speaking at a joint press conference, Sisi said that he held fruitful and constructive discussions with Hichilema that reflected the shared political will to shore up bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, social and development domains.
Sisi expressed Egypt’s readiness to transfer its development expertise and provide all forms of support and assistance to Zambia with the view to enhancing the capabilities of its workforce in priority areas, and collaborating on strengthening operational frameworks within Zambia's state institutions.

The Egyptian President highlighted the investment opportunities in the “Lobito Corridor” project, as part of efforts to stimulate the engagement of the Egyptian public and private sectors in investment activities in Zambia.

This aims to unlock new avenues for cooperation between the two countries’ business communities and capitalize on the Egyptian-Zambian Business Forum, held during Hichilema’s visit, he said.

“Driven by this commitment, we agreed on enhancing the contractual frameworks between our countries in the areas of political consultation, promotion of mutual investments, agriculture, aquaculture, and infrastructure,” Sisi said.

He added that they also agreed on the importance of joint action and the need to coordinate positions to advance African priorities on the international agenda.

Hichilema and Sisi underscored the importance of reforming continental organizations to boost their capabilities to address current challenges and to better serve the interests of their peoples.

“We emphasized the crucial need to utilize continental frameworks, notably the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), to bolster regional integration and amalgamation among African countries,” Sisi said.

In addition, the talks touched on a multitude of regional and international issues of mutual interest, with special focus on developments in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Horn of Africa, as well as Red Sea security and water security.
The two leaders reiterated their countries’ commitment to fostering stability in Africa and the Middle East region.