ABU DHABI // While the UAE has a history of helping people in need across the world, it has only recently been acknowledged as one of the top donor countries, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi has said.
In an interview with The National, the Minister for International Cooperation and Development said the UAE has been provisionally named the largest foreign aid-donor country in the world in terms of ratio of official development assistance to gross national income last year.
“Put simply, this means that on a per capita basis, in the year 2013, the UAE is the largest donor in the world for providing development assistance to countries most in need of aid, as determined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,” she said.
Sheikha Lubna said the total UAE humanitarian aid provided to the Syrian crisis from 2012 to this year had reached Dh580 million.
“This includes help provided to support refugees in neighbouring countries, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Other significant humanitarian projects include a US$16 million (Dh59m) demining project in Kandahar, Afghanistan,” she said.
And last year the UAE sponsored a project that delivered increased access to basic healthcare services in Gaza for women and children.
“From a children’s health perspective, the UAE provided assistance to support the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation alliance in Afghanistan, which aims to increase access to immunisation for children in poor countries. The UAE also provided for a project in Sudan that covered the expenses for children’s heart operations,” the minister said.
The UAE also supplied pharmaceutical and medical equipment for field hospitals for women in Tunisia and Libya, and made funding available for the construction of a number of hospitals and clinics for women in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
Sheikha Lubna is also keen for the next generation of Emiratis to become increasingly involved in humanitarian affairs.
“It is one of the top long-term priorities of the ministry and we have various initiatives aimed at raising awareness,” she said.
The minister said she also appreciated the initiatives of more than 40 organisations in the UAE that work in the humanitarian, development and charity sectors.
“These donors provide their own, distinct set of employment initiatives for Emirati youth. Some of the larger donors are the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and the UAE Red Crescent Authority,” she said.
It was announced yesterday that 5.8 million Pakistani children have been vaccinated against polio during the months of June and July in a programme launched under the directives of the President, Sheikh Khalifa, and an initiative of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, to eradicate polio worldwide.
The UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme said the campaign had targeted children in 23 areas in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the tribal region.
It vaccinated 3.5 million children in June, and 2.4 million in July, bringing the total number of vaccinated children to almost six million.
The World Health Organisation has warned of the danger of a polio epidemic in Pakistan, which in 2011 recorded the highest number of polio cases in a decade, with 198 cases.
In 2012, 58 cases were recorded, while last year, there were 93 confirmed cases. In the first seven months of this year, 99 cases were recorded, compared to 24 cases in the same period in 2013.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world that remain polio-endemic.
akhaishgi@thenational.ae
