As part of the ongoing humanitarian and livelihood march to Yemen during the four-year war, the UAE on Tuesday, November 5th inaugurated the strategic water city of Zobab, Taiz governorate on the west coast of Yemen to provide clean water to more than 15,000 people. This will join 31 other projects implemented by the UAE through its humanitarian arm, the Red Crescent Authority in the West Coast, serving more than 155,000 people.

The project consists of rehabilitating a water well, providing it with an integrated solar energy system, and extending a distribution network of 30 kilometres.

A number of people in the city of Zobab expressed their happiness with the flow of drinking water to their homes, stressing that this project represents a lifeline for them.

A Red Crescent representative said that this project is part of a series of vital projects, services, and humanitarian initiatives undertaken by the UAE since the first weeks to liberate the west coast directorates in Yemen. He stressed that the joy seen on the faces of the people of Zobab is the highest humanitarian goal of the UAE.

For his part, Mohammed Al Shaeri, director general and chairman of the local council, expressed his thanks and gratitude on behalf of the people of Zobab to the UAE government and people for their continuous efforts in supporting the liberated directorates, especially their interest in vital service projects that ensure a stable and safe life for citizens in these difficult circumstances.

Education support

The UAE has also contributed through the UAE Red Crescent to support the education sector in Yemen. The UAE provided education to 150,000 students by rehabilitating 149 schools in Aden.

Since 2015, the UAE has been working to resume the educational process in Yemen’s liberated governorates in general and the temporary capital of Aden in particular through rehabilitation and maintenance of schools.

The UAE announced the start of the first phase of the process to support and rehabilitate this sector during a press conference in September of the same year. The conference dealt with the rehabilitation and maintenance of 54 schools, as well as the implementation of a second phase involving 149 educational buildings in Aden, in response to the announcement by the Ministry of Education in the internationally recognised government to resume schooling in October 2015.

In line with the conference, the UAE Red Crescent has already rehabilitated and renovated 149 educational buildings, including schools, educational offices, national offices, kindergartens, student houses, and institutes.

The UAE has been keen to implement the school bag initiative since 2015, bringing the number of bags distributed to schools in Aden over the past five years to 30,000 bags.

The educational support was not limited to the restoration and maintenance of schools, but the UAE also initiated the furnishing and provision of teaching aids and equipment. Aden schools were provided with 9,500 double seats in 139 schools, in addition to the distribution of 1,200 blackboards and 323 water coolers. It also provided 190 air conditioners for schools and educational offices, in addition to building and installing 21 school umbrellas. The UAE also provided the Education Office with 12 buses.

Meanwhile, the year 2018 witnessed the provision of school uniforms for 20,000 students from different schools in the districts of Aden.

The Red Crescent provided schools and educational offices in Aden with 1,704 computers in three phases, the first of which started in 2015. The second phase began in 2016, which also saw the delivery of equipment and printers in the process to support university education in 2019, which included accessories such as 673 seats and tables and 320 electrical distributors.

In 2018, the UAE Red Crescent responded to appeals by a number of faculties and schools of the University of Aden to provide the College of Law with 16 computers, four laptops, four scanners, and four printers. In addition, the College of Nursing will be provided in 2019 with educational medical supplies. The Faculty of Science in 2017 received 200 seats, two projectors, and two laptops, in addition to four air conditioners.

During the year 2018, the UAE Red Crescent Authority signed an agreement with the University of Aden to support student activities, under which the UAE Red Crescent supported the students of the University of Aden by holding 22 graduation ceremonies for 2,000 students from different faculties and departments of the university. In addition, it supported university student activities through the establishment of football, tennis, and volleyball tournaments in which more than 23 colleges compete.

During the past five years, the UAE Red Crescent has carried out many student sports and cultural activities in Aden’s schools. It also held a number of awareness campaigns against epidemics and diseases, along with hygiene campaigns, the most recent of which occurred last October and November, which included a campaign to return to schools, a clean-up campaign, and an arms prevention campaign.

The UAE's contributions did not stop there, but it has also contributed through the Red Crescent to the restoration and maintenance of university student housing in the city of Shaab, which can accommodate 1,500 students, in addition to the restoration of housing for Shabwa students in Aden.

The year 2017 witnessed the implementation of the "Zayed Will Campaign" in cooperation and coordination with the presidency of the University of Aden, and with the support of the Red Crescent, the College of Engineering organised a three-day architectural art exhibition in which a wide range of students participated, and the Faculty of Economics was supported with a medical clinic to promote health care.

Aid to Socotra

The UAE Red Crescent also inaugurated new housing units and a school on the Yemeni island of Socotra on Tuesday, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Twenty-two new residential units were inaugurated within the Sheikh Zayed City project, bringing the total number of units from 183 to 361.

International confessions

Officials from international aid organisations, led by the United Nations, praised the efforts of the UAE Red Crescent Authority to support humanity and alleviate the suffering of the afflicted people over more than four years. Officials confirmed that the UAE's assistance to Yemen has had a very positive impact on Yemenis and benefited millions.

The UAE ranked first globally as the largest aid donor to the brotherly people of Yemen in 2019.

The value of UAE assistance to the Yemeni people between 2015 and September 23rd, 2019 amounted to AED 21.70 billion ($5.91 billion).

This was according to the report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the countries funding the humanitarian response plan for Yemen from the beginning of 2019 until September 23rd.

Humanitarian aid accounted for 37% of the total value of UAE aid, amounting to AED 7.93 billion ($2.16 billion).

Development assistance, rehabilitation, and stabilisation support projects accounted for 63% of the UAE's aid, or AED 13.70 billion ($3.73 billion).

Assistance provided included 15 key sectors such as transport and storage, power generation and supply, social services, health, and government and civil society support, among others.

The UAE assistance included all aspects of life in Yemen, with the aim of contributing to stability and development in Yemen’s governorates and regions.

Officials said UAE support for Yemen was not just about giving money. They pointed out that the UAE Red Crescent has taken on the responsibility to deliver support, restore life despite the atmosphere of war, and save millions in difficult humanitarian conditions. Also, in an unprecedented humanitarian message, the UAE has not overlooked support for schools, children's right to education, and collective weddings.

Annie Bellinger, the regional watchdog of the French Red Cross, said that the UAE's support was not limited to money, but that the Red Crescent also took on the task of delivering support and aid in the atmosphere of war sparked by the Houthi militia and the dangers that make the staff of this unique humanitarian institution soldiers in the service of man.

“What distinguishes the UAE's humanitarian efforts is that it is not only about fighting epidemics, supporting education, and helping the displaced, but also holding collective weddings in humanitarian initiatives aimed at alleviating suffering and delivering a message to the Yemeni people that life must continue,'' Bellinger said.

Hertha Helleres, head of the German Red Cross services sector, said the UAE Red Crescent had been conducting health support convoys and distributed food aid to all Yemenis in harsh conditions since April 2015, as well as contributing to trapping deadly epidemics resulting from the targeting of infrastructure by the Houthis and terrorist organisations.

Renault Morge, Middle East director at Oxfam, an international association of charitable organisations in Paris, said that the granting of aid and relief is not just a declaration of numbers or budgets, but more importantly, the delivery of aid to those in need.

He added that he appreciated the UAE for providing the largest Arab and international assistance in the history of the Yemeni crisis. Middle East