KUWAIT: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah meets US Special Envoy to Yemen Timothy Lenderking. - KUNA

KUWAIT: Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah announced on Monday the State of Kuwait's pledge of $20 million in aid for Yemen. The announcement came as the Kuwaiti top diplomat headed on his country's delegation in a virtual donor conference to aid the humanitarian situation in Yemen. The conference parallels with the humanitarian plan to support Yemen 2021, hosted by the Swiss Confederation and Sweden, in cooperation with the United Nations, as the conference aims to amass international pledges worth $3.85 billion to alleviate the human suffering of the Yemeni people.

Many countries announced their pledges at this conference, such as Saudi Arabia, which announced a pledge of $430 million, the UAE with a pledge of $230 million, Germany with EUR 200 million, and US with $191 million. The UK also announced a pledge for GBP 87 million, Canada with $69.9 million, and the Swiss Confederation with $31 million, all in support of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Delicate situation

The Kuwaiti Foreign Minister made his speech in the conference, saying: "Ignazio Cassis, Vice President and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, Ann Linde, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, your highnesses, I would like to thank you for the invitation to participate in the meeting to discuss the crisis in Yemen, in this very delicate situation, and in line with the humanitarian response plan for 2021, and I also wish to thank the government of Saudi Arabia for its successful hosting of the previous conference in June 2020.

"The United Nations was very sufficient in describing the situation in Yemen when it described it as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, as the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic made it worse and added new challenges such as food shortages, the spread of diseases and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid, in addition to high levels of violence, new waves of asylum and displacement in light of modest health and economic structures.

"In the past years, we have witnessed a concerted international effort through active participation in donor conferences, in line with the increasing urgency of humanitarian needs of the brotherly Yemeni people, as the crisis continues for its seventh year. These efforts confirm the collective international responsibility to support the humanitarian plan.

"Kuwait was a part of those efforts through its continuous support to Yemen in the humanitarian and developmental fields, as the total of the amount of donations made by Kuwait reached more than $1.559 billion, of which $850 million were spent in the humanitarian field since 2015. In accordance to the directions of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and in response to the urgent humanitarian needs of the brotherly Yemeni people, Kuwait provides a two-year support of $20 million, from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

"It should be noted that the GCC had made a lot of efforts in preparing an international conference for the reconstruction of Yemen and setting up a practical program to rehabilitate the Yemeni economy and facilitate its integration with the Gulf economy, especially after the Yemeni parties reach the desired political solution, wishing your conference good luck and success."

Latest developments

Sheikh Dr Ahmad had earlier received the visiting US Special Envoy to Yemen Timothy Lenderking. The envoy provided an explanation on the latest developments of the Yemeni crisis, praising Kuwait contributions on the political and humanitarian levels to restore security and safety in Yemen. For his part, Foreign Minister reaffirmed Kuwait's firm position towards providing all aspects of support to Yemen and its people, and making all efforts to restore security and stability to its territory.

He emphasized Kuwait's keenness to stabilize the political and security conditions at the Republic of Yemen and reach a political solution in accordance with the three references, the Gulf Initiative and its implementation mechanism, the outcomes of the comprehensive national dialogue, and Security Council Resolution 2216.

He also stressed on the importance of the role of the US and its endeavors to end the Yemeni crisis and its humanitarian and development assistance to Yemeni people, affirming Kuwait's support to all efforts undertaken by the Special Envoy in this regard.

Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah also urged the envoy to continue pressure on Houthi militias to stop the attacks that target the suburbs and civilian facilities, as Kuwait condemned those continuous attacks on the territory of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which are a direct threat to the Gulf and Arab national security. The meeting was also attended by, Foreign Ministry Senior officials and US Ambassador to Kuwait Alina Romanowski. - KUNA