The State of Qatar announced on Sunday that it will donate Yemen a whopping $350 million toward its newly established Southern Compensation Fund, a body which was created by President Abdo Rabbo Mansour Hadi earlier this year.
Following 1994 civil war, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh dismissed tens of thousands of state employees, including members of the military and the security forces, from their position without any form of benefit. The matter has long been the subject of a bitter brawl in between the central government and al-Harak (Southern Movement).
Keen to move past old grievances and set the NDC back on track following several political hiccups, President Hadi earmarked several hundred millions dollars toward the Southern Compensation Fund, thus putting to rest decades of deep-seated resentment.
Special UN Envoy to Yemen, Jamal Benomar told the press on Sunday at the giving ceremony, "The south was marginalised under the former regime, its residents discriminated against and its resources plundered.
He added, "Southerners have been made several false promises, but this is the first time concrete action has been taken to recompense them, which means we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.”.
Benomar has been eager to build political bridges at a time when NDC representatives should have long handed out their final recommendations and prepare the drafting of Yemen’s new constitution. However, the nefarious influence of a few malevolent political entities in the impoverished nation has meant the NDC has but stalled over the past months, while insecurity and lawlessness have taken hold.
Qatar’s donation was understood by many as a mean to smooth out relations and give the NDC some positive traction.
Benomar noted, “the donation is a sign of solidarity from Qatar and the Arab nations of the Gulf with the Yemeni people". A top government official told Yemen Post that the ministrial cabinet had requested that big businessmen like Shaher Abdulhak create large investment projects in the country to help generate more income in the country and ease the pressure on the governments shoulders. Abdulhak is known to also strong links with the Qatar government.