85% of the UN aid goes to Houthi areas..Failed strategies that drain donor funds in Yemen
English - Sunday 30 October 2022 الساعة 05:23 pm
Sana'a, NewsYemen, private:
Over the past few days, a label has emerged expressing Yemenis' frustration over the failures in implementing international humanitarian aid programs, amid questioning the quality of humanitarian aid provided by UN and international organizations in favor of alleviating the suffering of the Yemeni people.
The accusations are not the first to be leveled against UN organizations operating from their main offices in Sanaa, which is under the control of the Houthi militia - Iran's arm in Yemen. But this time, it remarkably emerged with UN officials announcing arrangements for a new donors' conference weeks later in November in the Swiss capital, Geneva, with the aim of raising more funds under the cover of the mouths of the hungry in Yemen and facing the humanitarian challenges caused by the crisis there.
Statements by government officials in the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, demanding transparency from the United Nations and aid agencies operating from Sana'a. After the failure of their strategy during the previous years to provide the real assistance that awaits the Yemeni people who are going through the worst crisis in the world.
Every year, the United Nations holds a donors conference and confirms that the needs are escalating and the mouths of the hungry are increasing, and that the number of citizens who need humanitarian assistance has exceeded 23 million, of whom 19 million are in dire need of assistance, but this year the United Nations planned to hold two conferences, the first was last March , and the second in November to obtain the largest amount of donor funds to implement its humanitarian response plan - as she put it - which costs more than 4 billion dollars.
It is strange that the UN organizations, including the World Food Program, confirm that the Houthi militias steal food from the mouths of the hungry, and practice the most heinous violations against the relief, humanitarian and development works and projects that are being implemented in the Houthi-controlled areas. However, the UN aid agencies are still practicing their activities from Sanaa and they are under their control.
Official and civil questioning of the quality of aid
Yemeni human rights activist Afrah Nasser explained in an article published by the Arab Center - Washington DC, a research center in the American capital that specializes in Arab affairs, that many Yemenis are skeptical about the quality of international humanitarian aid, and they demand transparency from aid agencies, the UN and others. A growing number of Yemeni experts have for some time been sounding the alarm about the failures of the international humanitarian response in the country.
The human rights activist highlighted 3 factors for the "failure" of the humanitarian aid strategy for Yemen: humanitarian organizations' focus on short-term solutions, their insistence on negative neutrality, and their insufficient containment of Yemeni professionals, and considered that criticism directed at humanitarian organizations indicates the existence of serious problems. The international humanitarian community must address it to alleviate the suffering in Yemen.
She explained that the strategies of humanitarian organizations in Yemen tend to focus on implementing their own agendas. It mainly aims to satisfy donors and meet their expectations only. But for Yemenis, these strategies do not address the root of the problem. and fail to provide long-term solutions to persistent humanitarian issues.
For his part, Adviser to the Minister of Local Administration for Relief Affairs - General Coordinator of the Higher Committee for Relief, Jamal Balfqih. He called on donor countries and organizations to put pressure on aid agencies to move from providing emergency aid to providing aspects of support for sustainable relief projects, the "sustainability phase", and empowerment and rehabilitation projects, and providing job opportunities for young people.
Balfakih stressed the need to pay attention and take into account the effects of international conflicts, including the Russian-Ukrainian war, and their serious repercussions on the economic and living conditions in Yemen, which necessarily requires donor countries and international organizations to support projects with continuity and sustainability, foremost of which is the support of the agricultural and wealth sectors. Fisheries are the most important in providing basic food, and are constantly renewable, through supporting the expansion and reform of agricultural lands, building dams, repairing canals, and supporting and encouraging farmers and fishermen.
It has lost impartiality and transparency in providing aid
With the continuation of the conflict in the country, the Houthi militia has developed its control and looting of humanitarian aid, starting with the issuance of monitoring bodies and bodies, as well as laws and procedures that mainly control the work of agencies and humanitarian and relief organizations in Sana’a and the rest of the Yemeni governorates, including the liberated ones. And the "neutrality" of international humanitarian organizations has turned into "a tragic silence regarding the arbitrary practices of armed groups against humanitarian work and obstruction of humanitarian aid," according to the human rights activist.
She noted that the Associated Press published an in-depth investigation detailing the violations of aid, committed by all parties to the conflict, yet international humanitarian aid groups failed to condemn these violations.
Because the majority of Yemen's population lives in areas controlled by the Houthi group. The majority of humanitarian work in the country takes place in those areas, which the Houthi militias realized and sought to control international aid to be a powerful tool, as they established in 2019 a humanitarian body owned by them, called the "Supreme Council for the Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation", a body that aims to “provide intelligence to senior Houthi officials about independent local humanitarian aid groups, impose hundreds of restrictions on local and international aid organizations, and impose taxes or deduct funds from aid.”
The commission has a monopoly on all Yemeni humanitarian aid work in areas under the control of the Houthis, "which means that any civil organizations trying to carry out relief work must abide by the rules and requirements of the Houthi authorities, and must be subject to their full supervision," according to the Yemeni human rights activist.
In her article, Yemeni human rights activist Afrah Nasser pointed out that most humanitarian organizations' adoption of the passive-neutral approach made them mostly subject to Houthi orders, allowing the Iran-backed group to "benefit" from the aid allocated to individuals and local organizations.
Fighting corruption in organizations
Afrah stressed that addressing the factors of failure of humanitarian aid strategies in Yemen requires the work of international organizations to "eradicate corruption, re-evaluate their strategies and practices, and involve local partners and experts to a greater degree," noting that the loss of livelihoods, due to the ongoing conflict in Yemen, It drove millions to rely on humanitarian aid, in a country that for decades before the conflict was ranked as the poorest country in the Arab world.
The activist called on international organizations to involve more Yemeni humanitarian workers in the efforts in Yemen, who have extensive local knowledge on the ground, because they are "the best able to identify the needs of their communities and propose possible solutions."
Returning to the advisor of the Ministry of Local Administration, Jamal Balfakih, he called on international organizations to work with absolute transparency and coordinate with the competent authorities, ministries and local authorities. To ensure the success of donor goals of support. Those who, unfortunately, began to refrain from providing support because of the defects and shortcomings that accompanied the last period in this aspect.
85% of the aid reaches Houthi areas
Among the agencies that have failed to implement humanitarian assistance strategies in Yemen is the World Food Programme. Many Yemenis have been traumatized by the program's work. Given the flawed program work in the country. The program is accused of letting food rot in its local warehouses and sending spoiled food to Yemen. His method of action had tragic results, which brought large segments of Yemenis to the brink of starvation.
Adviser to the Minister of Local Administration for Relief Affairs - General Coordinator of the Higher Committee for Relief. Jamal Balfaqih said that the internationally recognized Yemeni government has secured 22 land and sea ports and main roads, including the port of Aden, which provided an area of four hectares in the free zone to store relief materials and then distribute them to all Yemeni governorates, but the United Nations insists on entering most of the Yemeni governorates. Relief supplies through the port of Hodeidah, which is under the control of the Houthis, at a rate of 85%, "and all go to the areas under the control of the putschists due to the presence of the headquarters of the international organizations of the United Nations in Sana'a, in addition to the great manipulation of the delivery of this aid to those who really deserve it."
He added in a statement that only "15%" of the relief supplies are up to the liberated areas, of which 5% are for the displaced, 5% for the host community and 5% for the most needy groups.
Required from the next donor conference
Reports indicate that about “20” billion dollars were received by the United Nations from donor countries, and we are still in the third stage, that is, the “life-saving” stage. Even a small amount of it could have been allocated to rehabilitate the factories that were destroyed, support and encourage agriculture and fisheries, and provide opportunities Many citizens' actions will contribute significantly to getting out of the current crisis and even alleviating it.
Adviser to the Minister of Local Administration Jamal Balfaqih, at the conclusion of his statement in light of the ongoing preparations for the donors’ conference, hoped that any upcoming humanitarian plan to support the Yemeni people would move from the response stage to the sustainability stage. And that the competent authorities, including the Higher Committee for Relief or other bodies, direct supervision, control and continuous follow-up and submit periodic reports to the work of organizations and aspects of support in the various sectors. and the highest priority needs in all governorates.
