Japan-Yemen Relations
Statement by State Minister for Foreign Affairs Yamada at Pledging Conference on the FSO Safer in Yemen
May 8, 2023
On May 4, Mr. YAMADA Kenji, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, delivered a video message statement at the Pledging Conference on the FSO Safer in Yemen, which was held online and co-hosted by the Government of the United Kingdom, the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Nations. The overview of the event is as follows.
- At the beginning, the organizers of the conference, including Mr. David Gressley, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, provided an explanation about the current situation of the "FSO Safer" in Yemen, which is at risk for one of the world's largest oil spills, and called for the importance of the international community's assistance for the UN-coordinated Safer Salvage Operation Project (SSOP).
- State Minister Yamada stated, in the statement (PDF)
, that Japan, as a responsible member of the international community, has provided a total of approximately 430 million US dollars of humanitarian assistance since 2015, in areas such as food, education, health and assistance for the displaced people in Yemen, where the protracted conflict has been causing “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis”, and stated that Japan has already decided to provide at least approximately 24 million US dollars of additional humanitarian assistance in 2023. - State Minister Yamada stated that the FSO Safer is the most important issue that the international community must urgently tackle, among many difficult challenges which Yemen is now facing. State Minister Yamada also stated that Japan has already disbursed all of the 1 million US dollars Japan decided to contribute to the SSOP at the end of last year, and expressed Japan’s determination to continue to work with the international community to advance this project in light of the importance of this issue.