With 70 per cent of all imports and 80 per cent of all humanitarian assistance passing through the ports of Hodeidah, and Salif, they are a critical to commercial and humanitarian activities in Yemen. The ports provide lifesaving sources of food, fuel, medicines and other vital commodities to the approximate 24 million Yemenis across the country that depend upon assistance.

The ports, however, have been badly damaged in Yemen’s protracted conflict and now have limited capacity to function. To help ensure they are as efficient and functional as possible – and as a vital first step – the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Yemen has recently completely renovated the existing training center that was also significantly damaged in the conflict.

Over the past two months, in close coordination with the Yemen Red Sea Ports Corporation (YRSPC) in Hodeidah and other United Nations organizations, UNDP has led the renovation project with a team of local contractors to fix the heavily damaged training center. Managed by our Emergency Port Rehabilitation Project (EPRP), the facility’s work was finished and inspected this week and quickly turned over to the YRSPC. As it will be used to educate and train port workers, the functioning facility is an extremely important first step in increasing safety, productivity and efficiency of port operations.

“As part of our commitment to the implementation of the Stockholm Agreement, UNDP is helping rehabilitate and build the capacity of the ports of Hodeidah, Salif, and Ras Issa. The renovation of the training center is vital to the work of these ports as it will help faster and safer movement of lifesaving humanitarian cargo,” says UNDP’s Resident Representative, Mr. Auke Lootsma. “We are pleased with the interorganizational cooperation and the swift nature that we were able to turn the renovation around, and we look forward to our next endeavors in the port with our partners.”

UNDP remains committed to continuing to address the urgent infrastructure needs of the ports in order to enable the continued flow of humanitarian aid and essential lifelines that are central to Yemen’s economy, security and survival. The EPRP will continue to work collaboratively to support YRSPC and the ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Issa and – in addition to training facility restoration – will also work to replace the navigational aids at the main port, replace the berth guards, and repair the maintenance facility. These will enable the ports to strengthen their operations and safety capacities and systems and to handle increased commercial and humanitarian flows.