Geneva Conference for Relieving Yemen: Between the hopes and the complex reality

As a result of the alarming humanitarian situation in Yemen, on 26 April 2017, the United Nations organized a joint Swiss-Swedish co-sponsored relief conference for Yemen, following on from the UN Humanitarian Response Plan of 2017, which sought funding of $2.1 billion to assist 12 million people in Yemen and 7% of relief needs. However, the countries participating in the donors' conference to support Yemen in Geneva pledged only 1.1 billion US dollars out of the two billion necessary to support the country's relief efforts as it was announced by the UN. The initial pledges included $150 million from Saudi Arabia, $100 million from the UAE, Kuwait with $100 million, individual EU states with $123 million, and the United States with $94 million.

The observer can imagine that the humanitarian response plan in Yemen for 2017 is a fruitful idea on the right track to increase the effectiveness of international humanitarian assistance and to unify and coordinate the efforts of international donor organizations in this troubled country. However, one can argue that Geneva conference is an illusion in a complex human reality that is not only governed by total pledges and the amount of international humanitarian sympathy with Yemen, but also by other factors that will lead to ineffective humanitarian aid.

In this article, Dr. Moosa Elayah and Dr. Bilqis Abu-Osba analyze the outcomes of the 2017 Geneva Relief Conference.