'A cynical PR exercise': critics round on $3.5bn plan to allay Yemen suffering

A much vaunted Saudi plan to relieve the humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen has been branded a tactic of war and a “cynical PR exercise”.

Riyadh announced its $3.5bn (£2.5bn) Yemen Comprehensive Humanitarian Operations plan in January, following months of criticism over the effect of a blockade that has left an estimated 8 million people facing acute malnutrition in a country where 75% of the population of 29 million are in need of aid.

However, as a war that has pitted a Saudi-led coalition against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels approaches its fourth year, critics have slammed the scheme as ploy to distract international attention from the continuing civilian cost of the conflict.

At the centre of accusations levelled against the British and US-backed strategy is the claim that, despite Saudi Arabia’s promise to open the key port of Hodeidah – a city of 400,000 largely controlled by Houthi rebels and closest to the areas of direst need – the plan actually perpetuates the Saudi choke on imports there.

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, will meet Theresa May next week after a fresh warning by the UN’s humanitarian chief that conditions in Yemen remain “catastrophic” with “famine remain[ing] a real threat”.

The International Rescue Committee has been prominent in condemning the Saudi aid plan, describing it as a “war tactic”.

“The name in itself is misleading: it is neither comprehensive, nor particularly humanitarian,” said Amanda Catanzano, advocacy director at the IRC, who emphasised that the threat of mass starvation in Yemen was the direct result of Saudi policy.

Source: theguardian