(From right to left) World Bank's Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Inger Andersen, Saudi Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basendwah, British Minister of State for International Development Alan Duncan at the Consultative Group Meeting of Donors for the Republic of Yemen which started in Riyadh, Tuesday. — SPA RIYADH – Global donors Tuesday made aid pledges worth $6.4 billion for Yemen, the World Bank said, half of what Sana'a says it needs to weather a rough political transition. The new figure announced by the World Bank is up from $4 billion pledged to the impoverished state at a meeting of the Friends of Yemen in May.
Saudi Arabia had solely promised $3.25 billion of the $4 billion raised in May. “The total number is $6.396 billion, to fund the short term and portions of the long term,” Inger Andersen, the World Bank's Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, said at the end of the first day of the donors meeting in Riyadh. The World Bank gave “a grant of $400 million on top of existing $700 million, of which $200 million have been dispersed,” she said. Saudi Arabia's Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf opened the Tuesday meeting with a call for more aid for the strife-torn country. “Yemen is facing many economic problems ... The Kingdom hopes to see more contributions,” he said. Assaf and Yemen's Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed Al-Saadi Tuesday signed three agreements detailing the Saudi aid package offered in May, which amounts to a $1 billion deposit in Yemen's central bank, a $1.75 billion grant, and $500 million to fund and guarantee Saudi exports to Yemen. Assaf said that the Kingdom is looking forward to the efforts of states and organizations participating in the donors' meeting to support the process of security and development in Yemen, and to their contribution in these efforts as this support will help achieve peace and development in Yemen. He highlighted the challenges facing Yemen on the economic, financial, political and security fronts. It requires concerted regional and international efforts to help overcome these challenges, Assaf said. NGOs are scheduled to meet Wednesday, the final day of the meeting. Yemen told the donors meeting it needs almost $12 billion in the short term. “The national unity government needs $11.9 billion in the short term,” Saadi told delegates. The government “urgently needs to spend $4.7 billion on serious humanitarian needs by February,” he said. In addition to Saudi Arabia and the World Bank, the United States has pledged a total of $846 million, the Arab Development Fund $510 million and the Arab Monetary Fund $380 million. The EU has pledged $214 million, while Britain promised $311 million, Germany $158 million and the Netherlands $100 million. Addressing the meeting, Yemeni Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basendwah expressed, on behalf of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the Yemeni people, appreciation and thanks to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Government and the people of Saudi Arabia for supporting Yemen. The two-day Riyadh meeting aims to address several issues, including reconstruction, humanitarian needs and ways to strengthen security and stability in Yemen, Saadi told reporters in Sana'a ahead of the conference. It will also cover political dialogue, preparations for elections and basic infrastructure needs, he said, adding some states would pledge aid in Riyadh and other await a Friends of Yemen meeting in New York next month. But so far only 43 percent of $455 million earlier asked for by the United Nations and other organizations has been received for humanitarian aid for Yemen. The Friends of Yemen forum was set up at an international conference in London in January 2010 to help Sana'a combat a resurgent Al-Qaeda threat and other security challenges. The IMF says the 2011 political crisis has taken a serious toll on the Yemeni economy, which it said contracted by 10.5 percent, while inflation had soared to 17.6 percent. Aid agencies say nearly half of Yemen's 10-million population do not have enough food to eat, and one in three children is severely malnourished. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the US development fund USAID, said his country was providing $345 million in aid to Yemen this year. – Agencies
