The UN’s humanitarian aid chief on Monday said the food crisis in Yemen was unprecedented and 10 times worse than anything seen in South Sudan, announcing an appeal for US$4 billion (Dh14.69bn) that will be needed to fund next year’s relief effort.
Mark Lowcock, the head of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs who was briefing reporters about his recent trip to Yemen, said a desperate situation there underlined the need for progress at peace talks between the country’s government and Houthi rebels, currently taking place in Sweden.
Describing the lack of food for civilians as an "atrocious crisis", he said the past year had seen a 45 per cent rise in the number of Yemenis suffering from hunger and that there was consensus among people that he had spoken to from all sides of the conflict.
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Read more:
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"They've all got one message and their message is that they're at the end of their tether and they want this war to stop," said Mr Lowcock of his visit to the war-torn country.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will host an international pledging conference on Yemen to take place in Geneva on February 26, together with the governments of Switzerland and Sweden, Mr Lowcock said.
The $4bn appeal for 2019 is up from $3bn this year and $2bn the year before.
“The big picture is straightforward and easy to understand. There are 20 million hungry people in Yemen, 70 per cent of the population,” said Mr Lowcock. “In 152 of the country’s 333 districts, there is an emergency. Large numbers have moved into a worse category. “
Worst affected of all are 250,000 Yemeni civilians that he classed as being at phase-five “catastrophe” level, when it comes to food poverty.
"We have never before documented people in phase five in the food crisis in Yemen," he said, noting that all such citizens were concentrated in four districts where the war is raging, including Red Sea port city Hodeidah.
“There is only one other country in the world where there is anyone in phase five, and that is South Sudan, where there are 25,000.”
The UN data was gathered from 330 of Yemen’s 333 districts.
Peace talks taking place in Swedish town Rimbo are the first direct UN-backed negotiations between the Houthis and Yemen's internationally recognising government since a civil war began in 2015. That effort, being led by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths, is seen as a first step to ending the war. Access to the port of Hodeidah, controlled by the Houthis, is seen as a stumbling block.
“The situation is not under control. It’s not the case that things are getting better. The first thing we have to do is stop them getting worse and then we have to work on them getting better,” Mr Lowcock said of humanitarian issues on the ground and the need for progress on peace.
“Hodeidah is a lifeline. It’s not the only port. We want all ports and all the seaports to be open, but the vast majority of the people in Yemen are in Houthi-controlled areas and Hodeidah is the way you get food in to those people without having to cross front lines. Crossing front lines is extremely difficult in a hot war, and this is a hot war.”
Mr Lowcock said a $500 million pledge made by Saudi Arabia and the UAE last month would be included in the $4bn figure earmarked in the 2019 UN appeal for Yemen.
“The collapse of the economy means that more and more people need help,” Mr Lowcock added.
“That is why we need Martin [Griffiths]’s talks to succeed.”
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
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Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
