Bahrain attends Geneva meeting

Assistant Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Faisal bin Jabr Al Dossari participated today in the High-Level Pledging Event for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen, at the Palais des Nations, Geneva.
The event was organized by the United Nations and sponsored by the Swiss Confederation and the Kingdom of Sweden, in cooperation with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), to provide assistance and support to the people of Yemen, within the framework of the UN Action Plan and international relief partners for Yemen.
The Yemeni government was represented at the meeting by a high-level delegation comprising Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Obaid bin Dagher, with attendance of high-level delegations from countries all over the world, especially from the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The Assistant Foreign Minister delivered a statement on behalf of the GCC countries, affirming their keenness and commitment to meeting the humanitarian and developmental needs of the Yemeni people, based on kinship bonds, neighborliness and common destiny.

He affirmed the GCC countries’ appreciation of the efforts of the UN and the main sponsors in holding this humanitarian conference which seeks to meet the humanitarian needs of Yemen lauding the states that have shared concerns about the humanitarian situation in the country since September 2014.

He also stressed the commitment of the GCC states and Arab Coalition Countries to protecting the Yemeni people and supporting the legitimacy government under Chapter VIII of the Charter of the United Nations and in implementation of relevant international resolutions.

“The GCC countries’ efforts to provide assistance and support to the Yemeni people are not recent, they have rather been ongoing for decades, which testifies to their being one of the largest providers of humanitarian assistance to this country,” he added.

The GCC countries also pay due attention to the file of reconstruction and development of Yemen through the implementation of development and rehabilitation projects to sustain the Yemeni economy and merge it with the GCC economies.

In this context, Dossari said that the GCC countries accord great importance to coordination and dialogue with regard to humanitarian relief and play a key role in overcoming obstacles and facilitating the delivery of aid while appreciating their partnership with the UN and its specialized agencies, particularly OCHA and other International humanitarian organizations.

He called for the necessity of increasing coordination by the United Nations relief agencies with the Yemeni government for the positive impact this will have on carrying out tasks and for better use of all available land, sea and air ports to ease the flow of the needed humanitarian assistance to the Yemenis.

He praised the pioneering work carried out by the GCC humanitarian and relief organizations and donor funds operating in Yemen, whose assistance constituted more than 85% of the total humanitarian and development aid provided to the Yemeni people.

The assistant Foreign Minister stressed GCC countries’ keenness to achieve peace in order to ensure Yemen’s independence and unity and put an end to the suffering of its people, calling for the need to reach a political solution, based on the Gulf Initiative and its mechanisms of implementation, the outcomes of the Comprehensive National Dialogue, the Riyadh Conference and UNSC Resolution 2216.

He added that the outcomes of the 27th GCC Cooperation Council Summit, held in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the 28th Arab Summit, held in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan have poured into this very same end.

He recalled the efforts exerted by the State of Kuwait in hosting the UN -sponsored Yemeni peace talks which were moderated by its Special Envoy to Yemen over more than 100 days, aiming through such initiatives to alleviate the humanitarian sufferings of the Yemeni people.

At the end of his statement, the Assistant Foreign Minister reiterated the need to keep relief initiatives for the help of Yemen uniquely within the framework of the noble humanitarian goals and far from politicization.

He also expressed gratitude to the organizers of this conference and appreciated the global keenness on providing assistance to the Yemeni people, calling on the international community to provide more support and sustain the GCC efforts in support of Yemen.

During this high-level conference, the Yemeni Prime Minister Dr. Ahmed Obaid Bin Dagher, made a statement in which he highly praised the significant and fundamental contributions of the GCC countries in the field of humanitarian and relief work, including the contribution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, represented by its Red Crescent, noting that their contribution share is the largest among international contributors.