The UAE opened a solar-powered water pumping station in northeastern Yemen on Friday. The humanitarian aid project will supply water to thousands of residents in the district of Naseeb as well as the surrounding areas of Shabwa governorate. The initiative is one of a number of recent schemes organised by the Emirates Red Crescent. Shabwa has been affected by Yemen’s civil war, becoming a major battleground between government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels. “The latest project is one of many operating in Yemen which aim to improve humanitarian conditions and support the country’s critical infrastructure,” said Hamid Al Shamsi, ERC’s representative in Shabwa. Last week, the ERC also announced they had distributed 10 tonnes of food aid to families across Shabwa. The UAE has provided more than $5.5 billion (Dh20.53bn) in aid to Yemen since the start of the civil war. The conflict began four years ago when Houthi forces took over the country’s capital Sana’a and ousted the internationally recognised government of President Abdrabu Mansur Hadi.
