Residents of Socotra are being supported by the UAE's humanitarian efforts on the Yemeni archipelago. Photo: Yousef bin Shakar alzaabi
Residents of Socotra are being supported by the UAE's humanitarian efforts on the Yemeni archipelago. Photo: Yousef bin Shakar alzaabi

UAE's role in Yemen's Socotra 'essential' for development and reconstruction says Sheikh Hamdan



The UAE is playing an essential role in ensuring the development and reconstruction drive to improve living conditions in Yemen's Socotra archipelago "within a holistic humanitarian perspective away from any other considerations or individual interests", said Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent.

What the Emirates Red Crescent "is doing on ground in Yemen stems from a pure humanitarian and ethical commitment toward brothers," he said, according to Wam.

He said the Red Crescent "will spare no efforts to continue to help the Yemenis survive their challenges in Socotra and its presence there has not started recently but it has always been serving the interests of our brothers, alleviating their suffering and improving their lives".

When a powerful cyclone struck Socotra in November 2015, killing three people and injuring about 100, the UAE provided rescue and aid efforts.

The Emirates Red Crescent has also established the 356-home Sheikh Zayed City, which provides access to health and education services to hundreds of families in the areas of Estiro, Zahiq and F'arhu, Wam said.

Mosques have also been renovated, a 75 km water network has been built and a marine protected area for fishing has been established with 100 boats provided for inhabitants of Hudeibo,  whose main source of income is fishing. Two public parks and two football pitches have also been provided in Socotra by the Emirates Red Crescent.  Two mass weddings for hundreds of couples have also been funded by the Red Crescent.

The UAE has deployed soldiers to Socotra, which is a Unesco World Heritage site, as part of a campaign to support its residents, who held rallies for a third day on Wednesday to show their support for the Emirati presence. The country has been accused by some Yemeni officials of over-stepping its UN-backed mandate as part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels to to restore the internationally recognised government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi.

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs has highlighted the role being played in Yemen by the Muslim Brotherhood - and its supporters - which has been designated as a terror group by both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It said that attempts to distort its actions on Socotra are part of Muslim Brotherhood-led smear campaigns to undermine the fight against Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Socotrans on Wednesday said they condemned the plot by the Muslim Brotherhood "to drive the peaceful island to chaos", according to one resident, Abdulrahman Jumaan, who spoke to The National.

They also expressed their support for the UAE's humanitarian efforts, said Mr Jumaan.

ROUTE TO TITLE

Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
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Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
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COMPANY PROFILE

Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures

Company profile

Name: Yabi by Souqalmal 

Started: May 2022, launched June 2023

Founder: Ambareen Musa

Based: Dubai 

Sector: FinTech 

Initial investment: undisclosed but soon to be announced 

Number of staff: 12 

Investment stage: seed  

Investors: Shuaa Capital

THE SWIMMERS

Director: Sally El-Hosaini

Stars: Nathalie Issa, Manal Issa, Ahmed Malek and Ali Suliman 

Rating: 4/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: SmartCrowd
Started: 2018
Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Various institutional investors and notable angel investors (500 MENA, Shurooq, Mada, Seedstar, Tricap)

Company profile

Company: Zywa
Started: 2021
Founders: Nuha Hashem and Alok Kumar
Based: UAE
Industry: FinTech
Funding size: $3m
Company valuation: $30m

UAE ILT20

Marquee players:
Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Dawid Malan, Wanindu Hasiranga, Sunil Narine, Evin Lewis, Colin Munro, Fabien Allen, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Dushmantha Chameera, Shimron Hetmyer, Akeal Hosein, Chris Jordan, Tom Banton, Sandeep Lamichhane, Chris Lynn, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Mujeeb Ul Rahman

International players:

Lahiru Kumara, Seekugge Prassanna, Charith Asalanka, Colin Ingram, Paul Stirling, Kennar Lewis, Ali Khan, Brandon Glover, Ravi Rampaul, Raymon Reifer, Isuru Udana, Blessing Muzarabani, Niroshan Dickwella, Hazaratullah Zazai, Frederick Klassen, Sikandar Raja, George Munsey, Dan Lawrence, Dominic Drakes, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, David Wiese, Qais Ahmed, Richard Gleeson, James Vince, Noor Ahmed, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Navin Ul Haq, Sherfane Rutherford, Saqib Mahmood, Ben Duckett, Benny Howell, Ruben Trumpelman