Germany wants China and the Gulf States to become more engaged in humanitarian assistance

Niels Annen, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office, has called upon China and the Gulf States to put more effort into addressing the world’s humanitarian crisis.

Annen said in the European Parliament that Germany expects to increase the list of donors who will support the United Nations in a bid to meet increasing humanitarian needs. The appeal from Berlin was directed towards China and the Gulf States in particular.

“They have repeatedly voiced their readiness to shoulder global responsibility, and they do have the economic capacity to provide substantial humanitarian assistance,” said Annen.

He added that Berlin would expect steady contributions to the United Nations humanitarian budget and that donors would follow humanitarian norms. Annen stressed that bearing in mind China’s economic power, it should be a more engaged player on the global stage, especially with regard to humanitarian aid.

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Germany which took over the six-month presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July wants to start an EU-China dialogue concerning, among other areas, development aid. Annen declared that Berlin is working on the launch of consultations with Beijing.

Shortly after the appeal from Berlin, two Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, promised immediate aid to Yemen, answering the UN’s criticism for not having delivered on the aid pledges they made earlier this year.

Riyadh promised to provide US$204m in funding to United Nations aid agencies operating in Yemen as part of the US$500m – half of its 2019 commitment – originally pledged by the kingdom at a conference hosted by the UN and Saudi Arabia in June.

The UN estimates that about three-quarters of Yemen’s population (30 million) partly depends on development aid for survival. The Yemen Civil war which began in 2015 suffered a serious resurgence in the first half of 2020 badly affecting civilian infrastructure.

Saudi Arabia has signed three agreements with UN organizations, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization (WHO), and UNHCR worth a total of US$204 million. The food programme will receive US$138m of the funds while US$46m will go to the WHO and US$20m to the UN refugee agency. Another US$94m to be donated to the UN has not yet been allocated.

Berlin’s appeal to push China and the Gulf States to provide more development assistance coincides with a period of serious crisis within the UN as it faces new challenges amid the accumulations of old ones.