Yemeni Government Emphasizes Need to Decentralize Relief Work

Nahla Arishi, a pediatrician, checks a boy infected with diphtheria at the al-Sadaqa teaching hospital in the southern port city of Aden, Yemen December 18, 2017. REUTERS/Fawaz Salman

The Yemeni government on Thursday renewed its call for the decentralization of aid by international relief organizations and called on the new UN coordinator, Lise Grande, to pressure Houthi militias to remove all obstacles to humanitarian work.
 
Yemeni Minister of Local Administration and Chairman of the Higher Relief Committee Abdel Raqib Fatah welcomed the arrival of the new UN coordinator to Sana’a to assume her new mission, succeeding Jimmy McGoldrick, who was accused by the legitimate government of bias.
 
In an official statement, Fatah asked Grande to work with UN organizations to apply decentralization of relief efforts in order to achieve just delivery of humanitarian aid to all Yemeni provinces.
 
He also underlined government’s willingness to cooperate with the humanitarian coordinator in Yemen and its commitment to the principles of transparency, neutrality and responsibility in relief work.
 
He added that the government was keen to work and cooperate with all donors and organizations to deliver aid to the population in all governorates without exception, in line with the directives of President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi.
 
Fatah also asked Grande to exert pressure on Houthi militias to force them to remove all obstacles, which are hindering the fast delivery of humanitarian assistance to the stranded population.
 
The UN coordinator arrived in Sana'a on Monday and announced the holding of an international conference in April in Geneva, under the auspices of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, to rally support for Yemen.
 
Meanwhile, the government in Aden signed three agreements with French and US international organizations, and discussed with the director of the King Salman Humanitarian and Relief Center government facilities and procedures for the distribution of humanitarian supplies.
 
The three agreements fall within the framework of assistance to persons affected by conflicts, in particular the most vulnerable people, in addition to conflict management, capacity building and relief projects in the fields of medical, food security and water.