Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a cancer treatment centre in Yemen’s south-west Taez province on Saturday, wounding staff members.
Two other health centres in Taez were hit, said Doctors without Borders (MSF), who condemned the attacks on “civilian infrastructure, including hospitals”.
“Patients were relocated to lower and more blast-protected areas of the facilities,” said Craig Kenzie, the MSF's Taez co-ordinator.
Mr Kenzie said some patients were moved to a Swedish medical facility, also supported by MSF, “not knowing that it would be hit in the next hours”.
Ali Sarhan, manager of the Human Rights Office in Taez, told The National that the rebels used mortars and heavy weapons.
“They targeted the cancer facility with two mortar shells followed by a barrage of Shilka-23 bullets, which were fired over residential neighbourhoods in central Taez,” Mr Sarhan said.
The Shilka is a Soviet-era anti-aircraft weapon capable of firing as many as 4,000 large-calibre bullets a minute.
MSF also reported that shelling had hit nearby Al Jomhouri hospital, injuring two civilians, in attacks that lasted all morning.
Dozens of patients, including children, who were receiving treatment at the cancer centre were moved to safety, Mr Sarhan said.
“The clinic suffered extensive damage and had only just re-opened its doors in February following a similar Houthi attack in 2015,” he said.
Taez is Yemen’s third-largest city and was once known as the country’s capital of culture.
It has suffered extensively in the nearly six-year conflict sparked by the Houthi takeover of the capital.
Isolated by a decrepit road network and rugged, mountainous terrain, the city's vital services have been harmed by the destruction of transport infrastructure.
The cancer clinic is run by a non-profit organisation funded through donations and provides patients with therapeutic and social support, said its head, Dr Mukhtar Al Mikhlafi.
“Targeting the hospital in such a manner is a disaster and a big violation for the rights of 8,500 cancer patients who regularly visit the facility,” Dr Al Mikhlafi said.
“We call on all the warring parties to shoulder their responsibilities to protect the centre and call upon the UN, its special envoy to Yemen, the World Health Organisation and international human rights organisations to protect the cancer patients.
The attack on the cancer clinic in Taez came days after similar Houthi assaults on health centres in Hodeidah, amid a recent escalation despite a UN-brokered ceasefire.
On October 11, two civilians were killed and dozens were injured when Houthi rebels attacked healthcare centre in Al Duraihimi, eastern Hodeidah.
Previously, another health centre in Al Hawak district was struck by the Houthis, only days after maintenance work was completed.
The Yemeni war has caused what the UN describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and hit the health sector hard.
There have been outbreaks of infectious diseases, including cholera, and widespread malnutrition and hunger, while treatment for long-term illnesses such as cancer are hard to find.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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