The Supreme Council for Management and Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and International Cooperation (SCMCHA) held on Wednesday the first consultative meeting with humanitarian partners in Yemen.
Secretary of the Supreme Council for Humanitarian Affairs Abdulmohsen Tawoos, in a speech during the meeting, stressed the importance of the United Nations office in Yemen playing its role in following up on donors to fulfill their obligations.
Tawoos urged the United Nations, through all its agencies, to make more efforts to open land, sea and air corridors and ports, and to pay the salaries of state employees.
He stressed the importance of implementing projects of a sustainable nature and livelihood projects as a priority because of their direct and sustainable results in alleviating the crisis for citizens. He pointed out that the allocation of percentages to the main offices within the budget of the projects presented as grants to Yemen affects the humanitarian response process.
The Secretary of the Supreme Council for Humanitarian Affairs explained that allocating percentages to the main offices leads to an increase in the percentage of operational expenses and thus delays the discussion and signing of those agreements in the Supreme Council. He pointed out that deducting percentages from the budgets of the main offices is inconsistent with the amount of funds required to implement the humanitarian response in Yemen.
Tawoos noted that deducting percentages of the granted funds increases the gap in the allocated funds on the one hand, and the failure of many donors to fulfill their obligations on the other.
“It is not logical to adopt percentages and amounts as humanitarian aid to Yemen at a time when these amounts did not actually reach the Yemeni society,” he added. “We should overcome the interest of the citizen who benefits from these projects and interventions, and that the partners are keen to reduce operating expenses as much as possible.”
The Secretary of the Supreme Council for Humanitarian Affairs stressed the need to raise the percentage of direct expenditures that actually reach the beneficiaries in a way that ensures access to the largest possible number of those affected.
For his part, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, David Gressly, said: “We will work to strengthen the response in various insufficiently funded sectors, including livelihoods.”
“We need sustainable work, we affirm its support, and we share efforts with you to find the best framework for promoting humanitarian action and supporting economic growth,” Grisley added, pointing out that finding better ways to support people would greatly reduce the current gap.
Manea Al-Asal, head of the Cooperation Department at the Supreme Council for Humanitarian Affairs, explained that Yemeni society is subjected to collective punishment, and it is natural that Yemen is witnessing the worst crisis in the world.
“It is necessary to put in place an advocacy mechanism in the face of the siege imposed on Yemen. International organizations and agencies should be concerned with that,” he added. “The Supreme Council was accused of obstructing humanitarian projects due to its refusal to engage in projects whose financing the target group has benefited from is only 30%.”
He stressed that it is not possible to approve projects that deduct up to 70% of their total budget and the funding allocated for their implementation.
