Gifted with a big heart

UAE's leadership firmly believe in improving the welfare of people across the globe, and is among the generous, proactive nations to lend foreign aid

For a nation that has independently existed for 48 years, the UAE has made great strides in the field of foreign aid. To date, the country is one of the top nations that provide financial support and relief assistance to other countries during times of crises - be it a natural disaster, medical outbreak, or international conflict.
The UAE leads in three notable categories to empower and uplift people across the world - humanitarian, where it initiates emergency and relief operations in order to save lives; development, where it works towards improving a nation's economic, infrastructure and social welfare; and charitable aid, where it hosts projects in line with the UAE's religious views and culture.
Guided by a dream laid down by its forefathers, the UAE aims to be United in Destiny, as it marches ahead in line with Vision 2021. It looks forward to becoming a role model as a donor that effectively leads in global, development and humanitarian aid.
Its five-year strategy launched by the UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation also focuses on women's empowerment and protection.
According to the UAE Foreign Aid report, which was published in January 2018 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the UAE had provided foreign assistance valued at Dh22.23 billion ($6.05 million).
Among these, the country took part in a number charitable programmes, and lent a hand in development and humanitarian efforts based in developing countries. It also assisted 44 least developed countries (LDCs).
Furthermore, UAE's humanitarian and developmental efforts and aid to various world countries stood at Dh117.5 billion ($32.01 billion) between 2013 through 2017. In addition to that, its involvement with the United Nations shows that the country is among the top generous donors for LDCs, marking a contribution of 0.36 per cent, far beyond UN's target of 0.15-0.20 per cent.
Around 65 per cent of assistance is focused on developing countries in Africa, followed by Asia at 23 per cent, nine per cent in Europe, and three per cent to the rest of the world. Looking further into the disbursement of the funds to affected areas, the UAE has contributed towards urban development, infrastructure projects such buildings and roads, emergency food aid, shelters, medical services, education, and water supply systems, to name a few.
The UAE has a prominent role in supporting development projects in Afghanistan, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen, where it takes part in food security, healthcare, infrastructure development and renewable energy programmes.
Working alongside the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UAE has been actively working to eliminate poverty and create decent employment through numerous projects - aimed to give rise to a high-skilled workforce in third-world countries.
-farhana@khaleejtimes.com

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