The United Arab Emirates has allocated $2 million for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Yemen, Gulf Today reported.

Sultan Mohammed Al-Shamsi, assistant minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, signed an agreement yesterday with UNICEF to provide $2 million as a humanitarian response to save lives in Yemen.

“The aim of the project is to provide integrated nutritional services and life-saving supplies to cover 7,444 malnourished children and 12,500 pregnant and nursing women,” Al-Shamsi said.

UNICEF will seek to increase treatment services and feeding programmes via mobile teams across several governorates.

The United Arab Emirates is part of a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen which intervened in March 2015. The involvement is based on supporting internationally recognised President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi and to neutralise threats from the Iranian-backed Houthi group.

However, since early 2017, the UAE has shifted from the original Saudi-led coalition’s goals, and has supported a Southern Transitional Council in southern Yemen, which rivals Saudi Arabia’s intentions and Hadi.