As part of the ongoing efforts to support the people of Yemen, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) held a workshop on Sunday on the "Access to Yemen Initiative" which was organized by King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) at the Marriot Hotel Riyadh on Sunday. Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, supervisor general of KSrelief, headed the open discussion, with the participation of the UAE's Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for International Development Affairs Sultan Al Shamsi and Rene Nijenhuis, the representative from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). A number of UN agencies and international humanitarian organizations also attended the workshop. Dr. Al-Rabeeah opened the workshop by presenting a paper titled "Humanitarian Access Constraints in Yemen", which documented the Houthi violations and abuses against the people of Yemen. He stated that the Houthi militias continue to commit various violations in contravention of humanitarian and international laws in order to achieve their aim which is to remain in power by exploiting their own people to strengthen their military capabilities. Dr. Al-Rabeeah discussed the mechanisms of implementing the "Access to Yemen Initiative," including supporting the areas where the violations were carried out by sending specialized international neutral observers. Dr. Al Rabeeah also stated that another mechanism is to implement the full use of Yemeni and dedicated Saudi ports. These mechanisms are also in addition to the expected OCHA submission of a monthly assessment report on delivering aid to beneficiaries. Dr. Al-Rabeeah said that the initiative calls to denounce the continued violations and calls upon the international community to unite in condemning these actions against humanitarian action to help the Yemeni people. "Lastly, we have to commend the decentralization initiated by the UN organizations in Yemen," he added. Sultan Al Shamsi stated that the Houthi violations are registered and tracked. He said that even after Stockholm agreement, Houthi militias have committed 6,000 violations and continues in their actions. Al Shamsi extended thanks to the UN organizations and the WFP for their decision to do a partial subsection in Sana'a and other areas. Rene Nijenhuis of OCHA extended thanks and appreciation on behalf of the humanitarian community to both the KSA and UAE for their generosity in helping to lessen the suffering of the Yemeni people. Dr. Al-Rabeeah further emphasized that the KSA and the UAE are working together to help reduce the human suffering of the Yemeni people as much as possible. He stated that there are many challenges facing humanitarian work especially the grave and continuous violations by the Houthi militias which are constantly being reviewed and monitored. A number of examples of Houthi violations faced by UN and international organizations and the mechanisms for verifying such abuses were presented. Dr. Al-Rabeeah stressed that the workshop with the participation of international organizations was fruitful and discussed several topics, including the establishment of neutral mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation in order to follow up humanitarian action and ensure the delivery of aid to the allocated beneficiaries. — SPA
