A group of international companies will donate tens of thousands of coronavirus testing kits and medical equipment to Yemen, where a five-year insurgency has ravaged the health system.
Yemen has reported only one confirmed case coronavirus, which was announced on April 10.
Aid agencies have expressed their alarm because up to now the nation has only had the capacity to test only a few thousand people with equipment provided by the World Health Organisation.
Yemen also faces a shortage of ventilators and protective clothing.
The UN and aid groups have warned of a catastrophic outbreak should the disease spread among the population.
The UN fears that the virus could infect up to 93 per cent of Yemen’s population.
The International Initiative on Covid-19 said on Wednesday that its first 34-tonne shipment would reach Yemen next week.
It contains 49,000 virus collection kits, 20,000 rapid test kits, five centrifuges and equipment that would enable 85,000 tests, and 24,000 Covid-19 nucleic acid test kits.
The initiative was founded by the charity arm of multinational Yemeni family conglomerate Hayel Saeed Anam, Tetra Pak, Unilever, the World Bank-backed Yemen Private Sector Cluster, and the Federation of Yemen Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
It is working with the UN, which will distribute the donated equipment, including 225 ventilators and more than half a million masks.
The Hayel Saeed Anam Group is providing the first shipment, the initiative said.
“Yemen’s healthcare infrastructure will not be able to cope with the pressure placed on the system by Covid-19," said the initiative's chairman, Nabil Hayel Saeed Anam, urging other private companies to join in.
"We all fear that the result will be a major loss of life."
About 80 per cent of Yemen’s population, or 24 million people, requires humanitarian aid and millions are on the verge of starvation.
Diseases including cholera, dengue and malaria are rife and only half of Yemen's hospitals are fully functional.
A two-week ceasefire in Yemen was announced by Saudi Arabia on April 9.
But the truce was broken 241 times by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in 48 hours last week, said the Saudi coalition fighting to restore Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
At the end of last month, US President Donald Trump cut aid to Yemen, with the US Agency for International Development saying it would suspend at least $73 million (Dh268.1m) allocated to the north of the country, which is controlled by the rebels.
Company profile
Name: Fruitful Day
Founders: Marie-Christine Luijckx, Lyla Dalal AlRawi, Lindsey Fournie
Based: Dubai, UAE
Founded: 2015
Number of employees: 30
Sector: F&B
Funding so far: Dh3 million
Future funding plans: None at present
Future markets: Saudi Arabia, potentially Kuwait and other GCC countries
JAPAN SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Masaaki Higashiguchi, Shuichi Gonda, Daniel Schmidt
Defenders: Yuto Nagatomo, Tomoaki Makino, Maya Yoshida, Sho Sasaki, Hiroki Sakai, Sei Muroya, Genta Miura, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Midfielders: Toshihiro Aoyama, Genki Haraguchi, Gaku Shibasaki, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Shoya Nakajima, Takumi Minamino, Hidemasa Morita, Ritsu Doan
Forwards: Yuya Osako, Takuma Asano, Koya Kitagawa
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Stuck in a job without a pay rise? Here's what to do
Chris Greaves, the managing director of Hays Gulf Region, says those without a pay rise for an extended period must start asking questions – both of themselves and their employer.
“First, are they happy with that or do they want more?” he says. “Job-seeking is a time-consuming, frustrating and long-winded affair so are they prepared to put themselves through that rigmarole? Before they consider that, they must ask their employer what is happening.”
Most employees bring up pay rise queries at their annual performance appraisal and find out what the company has in store for them from a career perspective.
Those with no formal appraisal system, Mr Greaves says, should ask HR or their line manager for an assessment.
“You want to find out how they value your contribution and where your job could go,” he says. “You’ve got to be brave enough to ask some questions and if you don’t like the answers then you have to develop a strategy or change jobs if you are prepared to go through the job-seeking process.”
For those that do reach the salary negotiation with their current employer, Mr Greaves says there is no point in asking for less than 5 per cent.
“However, this can only really have any chance of success if you can identify where you add value to the business (preferably you can put a monetary value on it), or you can point to a sustained contribution above the call of duty or to other achievements you think your employer will value.”
