According to Emirates Red Crescent, AED502.3 million was raised for the one-month-long “Yemen: We Care” donation campaign, which started on Friday under the guidance of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai.

The campaign was part of the efforts to help restore Yemen’s health, educational and public services, and to aid more than 10m Yemenis affected by the crisis in the country. The total contributions exceeded AED500m thanks to Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent, who donated AED300m on Friday.

The contributions to the campaign from the UAE were mainly offered by large UAE-based companies. The Dubai Islamic Humanitarian Foundation and the Dubai Islamic bank donated AED10m each, while Emaar Properties and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi donated AED5m each.

In addition to companies, some individuals also generously donated towards the campaign. Also, many UAE residents made cash donations through machines located at the Abu Dhabi TV news centre, several Red Crescent kiosks in shopping centres and via SMS.

The President of Yemen, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, thanked the UAE government and the people for taking up this initiative to help his country.

Many projects have been announced by Emirates Red Crescent to help Yemen recover, such as the project to repair and rehabilitate 54 schools, set to be completed in two weeks, and the project undertaking the maintenance of 153 other schools, which will house more than 138,000 students.

An AED217m fund was allocated by Emirates Red Crescent to repair power facilities in Aden, Yemen. This project is already 85 per cent complete.

Future projects in Yemen include the construction of five hospitals, nine clinics a