ERC sends third ship of aid, prepares 40 truck convoy to Yemen

Abu Dhabi, 15th June, 2015 (WAM) -- A UAE third ship of aid yesterday sailed off to Yemen as part of the Emirates Red Crescent's (ERC's) humanitarian and relief programme in Yemen. The ERC scaled up its humanitarian response following instructions given by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the close follow up of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Western Region, and ERC Chairman. The ship, which is carrying 1,515 tons of food and water supplies, will be followed by a convoy of more than 40 trucks loaded with food packages to contribute towards efforts aimed at filling the food gap in Yemen. An ERC team is on the UAE-Saudi borders to escort the convoy and supervise distribution of relief items to the affected people in different governorates in Yemen. The ERC said in a statement that it is closely monitoring the unfolding developments in Yemen and is bracing to intensify its humanitarian initiatives to alleviate the suffering of the fellow Yemeni people and improve their difficult living conditions. ''We understand the magnitude of challenges the affected people are facing, a factor that motivated us to work diligently in all directions to secure essential needs from food, medicine and petroleum derivatives to clean drinking water. In that respect, we have distributed more than 6,000 tons of these life-saving materials in the governorates hardly hit by the current crisis,'' the statement added. The ERC indicated that its aid workers had managed to deliver humanitarian assistance to the targeted groups despite the difficult circumstances and challenges which still stand as stumbling block in the way of distribution of such assistance to other governorates which were suffering from severe shortage of essentials. The ERC emphasised that it would mobilise all its resources to deliver more humanitarian aid to Yemen in areas of health, food, shelter and other basic services that the Yemeni humanitarian situation may need. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395281880444.html