Saudis, UAE draw praise for pledging aid to Yemen

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates drew praise today at a UN conference for offering USD 1 billion in aid for Yemen, where their air campaign against Houthi rebels has killed thousands of civilians and their crippling blockade has hindered aid delivery.

The one-day conference co-hosted by Sweden, Switzerland and the United Nations collected pledges totaling USD 2.01 billion from 40 countries and organisations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres acknowledged that some donors were also "parties of the conflict." "We all know who ... the parties to the war (are)," he told reporters. "But the two things need to be seen separately, independently of the fact that there is a war.

There are humanitarian obligations that are assumed by countries."
"Several countries have already announced that there will be more donations from now until the end of the year," the U.N. chief said. "So we are quite optimistic."
Guterres added that "as important as the financial contributions to this conference is the commitment of the parties to the conflict to come together to put an end to the war."
He said information gleaned by his new special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, during a trip to the region led him to believe there were "positive perspectives" that could possibly lead to an "effective intra-Yemeni dialogue" at some point. Guterres cited an "opportunity to be seized."