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.
