The Palestinian Territories' largest rehabilitation centre for disabled children is to open shortly with the help of the UAE Red Crescent Authority.
The Dh11 million-centre has been named after Sheikha Fatima, who is the honorary chairwoman of the UAE Red Crescent Authority and whose contributions made the project possible, according to WAM, the state news agency.
The UAE Red Crescent Authority handed over the building to the Palestinian minister of social affairs and agriculture, Mahmoud al Habash, at a ceremony held in the suburbs of Al Khalil last week.
Disabled children receive training at the Sheikha Fatima Rehabilitation Centre for Children to help them earn a living.
The centre can train up to 200 children at a time. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and International Labour Organisation supervised the project.
At the ceremony, Mr Habash acknowledged the UAE's support of the Palestinian cause. He also praised the humanitarian stance of Sheikha Fatima and the UAE Red Crescent Authority. Khalid Shahwan, representative of the UNDP, said the centre was largest project the UNDP had supervised in the Palestinian Territories.
sbhattacharya@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
The National photo project
Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).
