ERC distributes 55,000 food parcels to 350,000 people in Yemen’s Red Sea Coast: Rashid Al Khateri

YEMEN, 18th April, 2018 (WAM) -- Rashid Al Khateri, Head of the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, Team in the Red Sea Coast of Yemen, said that the ERC is launching relief campaigns to improve the lives of the Yemeni people, by providing humanitarian, development and relief aid to help them overcome their difficult conditions caused by the siege of the Houthi militias. In an interview with the Emirates News Agency, WAM, Al Khateri said that ERC teams have distributed over 55,000 food parcels in the liberated areas of Yemen’s Red Sea Coast from 2017 to February this year, which benefitted over 350,000 people, including local residents and refugees. They also built over 26 new homes and restored many others in Mocha City, he added. Al Khateri stressed that the ERC launched a new humanitarian campaign to distribute 10,000 food parcels to neighbouring cities and regions of the liberated areas of the Red Sea Cost, which are suffering from dire conditions. He further added that the ERC restored the 160-megwatt Mocha Power Plant, maintained the "Electrical Transmission Network," restored four hospitals in the Red Sea Coast, including Mocha Hospital, and equipped them with medical equipment and provided them with medical staff that include doctors, nurses and technicians, as well as built 16 solar-powered water wells in various parts of the Red Sea Coast. Al Khateri noted that the ERC restored 17 schools in three districts, which benefited over 11,000 students, and distributed 2,000 school bags, restored several mosques, and is planning to launch a Ramadan Iftar project during the Holy Month of Ramadan in many liberated districts, by distributing Iftar meals or food parcels to local families. The Emirates News Agency, WAM, met with local residents of Yemen’s Red Sea Coast who benefitted from Emirati humanitarian aid. They also thanked the UAE for its humanitarian and development initiatives that aim to rescue the Yemeni people while praising its leading humanitarian role, which is not limited to the military campaign, but also includes humanitarian and rescue efforts. The UAE has prioritised the humanitarian situation in Yemen and contributed over US$2.73 billion since the start of the crisis to ease the suffering of Yemenis, by launching sustainable projects that include health, education, security, public facilities, infrastructure and reconstruction. The UAE also rebuilt 1,400 schools and 650 health centres that were destroyed by the Houthi militias and donated $500 million to support the humanitarian plan of the United Nations for Yemen in 2018, as well as an additional $70 million to reconstruct ports and airports. The UAE also established an office to manage its humanitarian aid in Yemen, which is linked to relevant international organisations.