Emergency UK aid shipped to flood-ravaged Pakistan from Dubai

Thousands of emergency shelters, water purifiers and hygiene kits from the UK left Dubai for Pakistan on Tuesday.

The aid items were paid for by the British government as part of a £41.5 million (Dh163m) pledge to support millions of people displaced by floods in Pakistan.

Emergency shelters are intended for up to 187,050 people while water filters and hygiene supplies should be enough for up to 31,282 people.

Pallets loaded up into shipping containers will arrive in Karachi within five days and life-saving supplies will be delivered to the worst affected areas.

Catastrophic flooding in Pakistan has left more than 250,000 square kilometres of land submerged, displacing 33 million people and destroying huge stretches of farmland as global food prices rice.

The kits being sent to Pakistan are tailored to what people need. It is a highly efficient operation

Patrick Moody,
British Ambassador to the UAE

More than 1,600 people have been killed and about 2 million homes have been destroyed.

Heavy monsoon rains that fell in mid-June added to a severe heatwave that melted glaciers and caused flooding across the country.

Central to the UK-funded relief operation is the Modern Freight Company in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, which has been working with the British government to deliver aid to disaster zones around the world since 2005.

The Dubai storage facility houses 80 per cent of all the UK’s global humanitarian aid, due to its prime location offering ease of access to global disaster hotspots.

“Dubai is an efficient global hub that allows us to act speedily during times of crisis,” said Patrick Moody, British ambassador to the UAE.

“We have given £16.5 million directly from the government, £25m from the British people themselves — they consistently do this to top up what the government is already doing when disasters happen.

“The UAE’s We Stand Together initiative is working well and shows the importance of strong partnerships.

“The British government is committed to this kind of action, and humanitarian work will continue to be one of our bedrocks, although we would like to solve the problems that cause these disasters in the first place.”

UAE and UK work together to deliver aid

A financial appeal by the United Nations and Pakistan for help has been answered by the UK and UAE governments, which are working in partnership to deliver aid where it is most needed.

The World Bank has also committed $2 billion (Dh7.3bn) in aid for recovery efforts.

Around £10m (Dh39.5m) of the money raised by the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee will go to international aid agencies on the ground to provide water, sanitation and shelter.

Pallets loaded up into shipping containers will arrive in Karachi within five days and life-saving supplies will be delivered to the worst affected areas. Photo: Foreign & Commonwealth Office

Funds will also support families to repair their homes and maintain their livelihoods.

An initial £1.5m (Dh5.9m) pledged by the UK has already been used to assist at least 15,000 families, offer primary health care support through mobile medical camps and provide some 4,000 hygiene kits.

Support has also been sent out directly from the UK to aid the Pakistan military in relief efforts and includes eight mark six assault boats and 10 portable generators.

“Like the UAE, humanitarian work is key to our engagement with the outside world and that will continue despite the tightening of belts,” said Mr Moody.

“Our partnerships here are key, and we agree on the kind of work that is needed in the humanitarian sector, on climate change and investment in Africa.

“The kits being sent to Pakistan are tailored to what people need. It is a highly efficient operation.”

The Modern Freight Company receives containers by sea and air, which are then stored in warehouses in Jebel Ali Free Zone.

It has 2,500 pallet locations with 19,000 cubic metres of storage, 4,000 of which are used by the UK government.

Hundreds rescued from Afghanistan arrive in Dubai on military flight

“This is a fast response operation. Usually, we have to ship items out within 48 hours,” said Sunil Anto, manager of operations at Modern Freight Company.

“We can often have two flights loaded with goods coming into the UAE on pallets, so we have to manage that and mobilise as quickly as possible.”

DP World donation

The DP World Foundation has also pledged substantial support for flood-affected areas following a recent meeting with the company's chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and Pakistan’s President Arif Alvi in the country.

DP World has donated $1m (Dh3.67m) to the Pakistan Army Fund for Flood Affectees, and has pledged another $1.5m in relief items, including shelters, medication, food items, and cooking utensils.

Warehousing space at DP World’s facilities in Karachi has been set aside for logistics support.

“The devastation and impact on Pakistan are heartbreaking,” said Mr bin Sulayem.

“Visiting areas affected by natural disasters always forces you to put things into perspective as you try to fathom the enormity of the situation.

“It could be months before we understand the scale of the damage.

“However, for now, we must look at the most efficient ways to extend relief to aid local communities in distress.”

Pakistan floods - in pictures

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Banned items

Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:

Drones
Animals
Fireworks/ flares
Radios or power banks
Laser pointers
Glass
Selfie sticks/ umbrellas
Sharp objects
Political flags or banners
Bikes, skateboards or scooters

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).