Unicef praises UAE’s aid for Syrian refugees

DUBAI // Unicef has praised the Government for its continuing humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees.

Dr Ibrahim El Ziq, Arabian Gulf area representative for the UN children’s fund, thanked Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region and Chairman of Emirates Red Crescent, one of Unicef’s humanitarian partners.

“We appreciate and acknowledge the value of their ongoing and immediate response to numerous humanitarian relief campaigns worldwide,” he said on Monday.

“For Syria in particular, their tireless campaigning and support has no doubt improved conditions for millions of children and their families who are suffering as a result of this terrible conflict.”

More than Dh120 million was raised for Syrian refugees last week as part of a campaign by the Red Crescent. Millions came from a two-day fund-raising telethon on Abu Dhabi TV on Friday and Saturday.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment also lent its support to ERC’s campaign, with a Dh1 million donation.

The money will help those displaced by Syria’s civil war to survive the freezing winter in refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon.

The funds have been raised as part of the Emirates Red Crescent’s Our Hearts Are With the Syrian People campaign, launched after a directive from the President, Sheikh Khalifa.

The initiative will help send vital aid items such as blankets.

International aid organisations such as Unicef have called for help to provide more relief to refugees, thousands of whom live in tents with limited supplies.

More than 2.3 million Syrians have been forced out of their homes since the civil war broke out in March 2011. About 800,000 refugees are in Lebanon, with 569,000 in Jordan, 553,000 in Turkey and 209,460 in Iraq.

An estimated 5,000 people flee Syria every day.

Emirates Red Crescent also made a significant financial contribution to Unicef in response to the polio outbreak in the region last month.

It enabled Unicef to get 1.6 million doses of oral polio vaccine to immunise children under the age of 5 in Syria against the disease.

Dr El Ziq also thanked the Government and Emirates Red Crescent “for their continuous support to children worldwide”.