"Childhood in Yemen is a special kind of hell." Antonio Guterres, the UN SecretaryGeneral, did not mince his words at Monday's fundraising meeting for the country. More than three quarters of Yemen's population are expected to go hungry this year. Five million are at risk of famine.
And yet, foreign aid to the nation is faltering. In 2020, the UN received $1.9 billion, a little over half the amount it requested. This year, the total fell to $1.7bn, now under 50 per cent of the target figure of $3.85bn. This is just money pledged. The amounts delivered are frequently less.
As funding decreases, the intensity of Yemen's crisis increases. Houthi terrorists maintain their grip on large parts of the country and, by the day, are pushing further into new territory.
Economic recovery from Covid-19 is the top priority for governments across the world. Foreign aid budgets are regarded as easy targets for spending cuts. And when crises drag on, some donors can become weary. Others insist on maintaining their commitments. Saudi Arabia has committed $430 million, by far the largest annual pledge of any country at the meeting. The UAE promised $230m, America $191m and Germany $240m. The future of Yemen has global consequences, and the effort to secure it must involve more countries.
Millions are at risk of famine in Yemen. EPA
This year, total pledges fell to $1.7bn, under 50 per cent of the target figure of $3.85bn
Meanwhile, the UK, which has tried to rebrand itself as "Global Britain", has slashed its 2021 contribution. London has promised $121m, almost half of what it pledged in 2020. While frugality is not a bad quality for a state to have, well-spent foreign aid is an investment that can pay big dividends in terms of national security and international influence.
Donor reluctance is understandable. There is room for international organisations to spend more efficiently, and some experts justifiably wonder whether money would be used more efficiently if given directly to local governments, even in cases where they may misappropriate a portion of it or struggle without the full capacity to deploy the funds. To keep the pipeline flowing smoothly, the UN must enhance its efforts to maximise the returns for the intended beneficiaries of aid – that is to say, civilians on the ground. More engagement from donor countries, not less, will help to hold the organisation to high standards.
But used well, there is no doubt that aid saves lives. In 2018 and 2019, when the UN World Food Programme sought funds to fight global hunger, the success of its appeal helped to stave off famine.
Of course, foreign aid is not the total solution to Yemen's crisis. Houthi rebels continue hold the country hostage, killing and injuring the innocent, preventing the flow of aid into certain areas and using the impending environmental catastrophe of FSO Safer – a stranded, decaying tanker loaded with oil that could explode at any moment – as a bargaining chip.
But all the same, choosing to step back from foreign aid now, would make a bad situation worse.
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
Indian construction workers stranded in Ajman with unpaid dues
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Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
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