Aqeel bin Juman Al-Ghamdi, the head of the donor group supporting the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Saudi Arabia’s representative to the group, said that many stakeholders in the international arena have come to agree on the importance of proactive humanitarian action.
On the sidelines of a meeting on Sunday in Riyadh, Al-Ghamdi emphasized that there are great opportunities to protect lives and livelihoods, reduce human suffering and losses and that early intervention will reduce vulnerability before a disaster strikes and enhance preparedness for disaster response.
The three-day meeting, which marks the fifth meeting under the Saudi presidency of the donor group for 2022-2023, was attended by representatives of 20 member states.
Al-Ghamdi added that the development of the humanitarian approach among donors has taken a positive upward trend in recent years.
More than 75 governments and more than 60 humanitarian relief agencies are working to mitigate the expected impact of humanitarian crises.
Al-Ghamdi called on the members of the donor group to support OCHA in coordinating the efforts of the humanitarian community to expand the scope of proactive approaches and actions.
He also urged the need to engage with development actors and invest in early action to reduce future humanitarian needs.
Al-Ghamdi reiterated the Kingdom’s continuous support for humanitarian and development efforts in Yemen.
He mentioned that since 2015, the Kingdom has provided a total of $20.7 billion in humanitarian and development aid to Yemen.
Of this amount, $14.2 billion was provided for humanitarian aid at the bilateral level, as well as through UN agencies and international and national non-governmental organizations, and in partnership with the private sector and civil society.
Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting the 5th high-level meeting and gave an overview of global events, especially concerning the earthquake disaster that occurred in Syria and Türkiye.
He stressed the need to develop and expand the scope of humanitarian teams, especially OCHA in Syria during the current time, citing obstacles that hinder the entry of aid to the stricken areas.
Meanwhile, several donors thanked Saudi Arabia and OCHA for their efforts and coordination with other partners and donors to provide humanitarian aid to Yemen.
