Yemen needs stability, a strong central government and lots of help to rebuild its economy. It has had none of these three essential elements for decades. The weak central government of Ali Abdullah Saleh allowed regional powers to gain control of large parts of Yemeni territory and he then tried to stop outright civil war. This disastrously minimal view of what governance was all about allowed Yemen’s regional powers to make a mockery of the idea of a functioning state.

The US did not help with its sole focus on hunting Al Qaida and its sympathisers. It is a dreadful comment on American policy that its dominant interest in the country for many years was only the number of Al Qaida strongholds established and the number of Al Qaida members killed by drones. Vital topics like economic support, education, development aid, agricultural research were all absent from State Department’s thinking.

Yemen urgently needs an alternative to the violence and a political and economic solution to the country’s woes. The military defeat of the Al Houthi will led to an eventual political compromise, under which, the people of Yemen will need to believe that the new order will care for their needs better than their previous government. That will need money.

This is why the Saudi offer of $274 million (Dh1 billion), in response to the United Nations’ appeal for aid, is so important. It shows that Yemen’s friends in the region care and are prepared to put forward substantial sums to help. As the UN put it: “Ordinary families are struggling to access health care, water, food and fuel — basic requirements for survival.” The people of Yemen need this and a lot more. Survival is a minimum and Yemen needs to plan for long-term security that will allow the economy to revive, people to be able to plan their careers and investments and nurture the hopes and aspirations of their families. When that happens, Yemen will be back on the right track.