UAE to sponsor orphans of Beirut blast victims

Emirates Red Crescent will take care of families who lost loved ones

Emergency aid is loaded onto plane at Dubai airport on Wednesday to support Beirut after the port explosion. On Thursday, the UAE's leaders pledged millions more in in funding and tonnes of equipment for the relief effort. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Aid includes medical equipment to treat injured patients and protect medical staff. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Aid is loaded on a plane to Lebanon at Dubai airport to support Beirut after the explosion. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Aid is loaded on a plane to Lebanon at Dubai airport to support Beirut after the explosion, Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Aid is loaded on a plane to Lebanon at Dubai airport to support Beirut after the explosion. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Staff from the WHO and Red Cross and Red Crescent sprung into action on Tuesday night as the death and injury toll in Beirut became clear.

The first flight will carry 40 tonnes, mostly bandages, syringes and other medical equipment. Food shipments are expected to follow.

Medical aid is loaded on to a truck at International Humanitarian City in Dubai. All photos by Chris Whiteoak / The National

George Maina, warehouse manager for IFRC, pictured at Humanitarian City outside Dubai.

Staff worked quickly to prepare the shipment for a cargo flight on Wednesday afternoon.

Staff worked quickly to prepare the shipment for a cargo flight on Wednesday afternoon.

Staff worked quickly to prepare the shipment for a cargo flight on Wednesday afternoon.

WHO, Red Cross and Red Crescent societies donated the shipment.

Nevien Attalla, operations manager for WHO's Dubai hub, said the shipment had to double in size once the scale of the situation became clear.

The UAE will sponsor children who have lost their parents in the deadly port explosion in Beirut.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region and chairman of Emirates Red Crescent, instructed the organisation to sponsor orphans and take care of the families who have lost loved ones in the blast.

The ERC and the Humanitarian Aid Office of the UAE Embassy in Beirut are in the process of identifying the orphans and affected families.

The programme will take care of all their basic needs and help to rebuild their homes.

“Sheikh Hamdan has been monitoring the situation on the ground since the explosion and its affect on people, and is in constant contact with the ERC’s executive management to follow the progress of relief operations,” said Dr Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, secretary general of the ERC.

This initiative comes after the UAE Volunteers programme launched a campaign to help send humanitarian aid and reconstruction material to Lebanon.

It has called on Emiratis and residents to volunteer in the UAE to assist the Lebanese people.

The initiative – From UAE and For Lebanon – will run in two phases. The first, from August 10 to 25, will collect and prepare humanitarian goods needed in Lebanon, while the second, from August 15 to September 12 will assess material needed in the reconstruction effort.

Volunteers will help organise the material in the UAE, while qualified engineers, specifically, are asked to volunteer for the second phase of the programme.

It comes following an explosion last Tuesday in Beirut that killed at least 158 people and injured more than 6,000.

The UAE has since sent tens of millions of dirhams worth of aid to Lebanon and 12 tonnes of protective equipment to limit the spread of Covid-19. People can donate to the Emirates Red Crescent relief effort on the charity's website.