UAE has become the leading donor to charitable causes around the world

The total amount given this year so far has been more Dh506.2 million, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA).

Emirates Red Crescent volunteers work at the site of Emirates field hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip.
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ABU DHABI // With natural disasters and wars taking place in the Arab World and beyond, the UAE has become the leading donor to charitable causes around the world.

The total amount given this year so far has been more Dh506.2 million, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA).

In an interview with The National, Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi, the Minister for International Cooperation and Development, said that in terms of percentage of its gross national income, the UAE was the largest foreign aid donor in the world last year.

“Put simply, this means… in the year 2013, the UAE is the largest donor in the world for providing development assistance to the countries most in need of aid, as determined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),” she said.

Humanitarian causes in Syria topped the list of countries that the UAE has given to. This includes helping refugees from the civil war who are housed in relief camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Iraw.

The relief covers different areas including food, shelter, medicine and other essential items.

The UN OCHA estimated that 6.5 million of Syria’s 22 million population needed humanitarian assistance because of the war. About 4.25 million of these were refugees.

From 2012 to 2013, the UAE donated Dh306.8 million to Syria, the Ministry of International Cooperation and Development said.

According to the statistics, these funds were disbursed through bilateral (or recipient government) means, the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) charity, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Food Programme, World Health Organisation, United Nations Relief and World Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and many others.

Aiding the people of the Palestinian Territories was the cause that was second-most donated to by the UAE.

Responding to the recent crisis in Gaza, the UAE provided emergency humanitarian assistance worth at least Dh36.7 million in July and August 2014 to help the victims of the Israeli attacks.

According to data from the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), this assistance was conveyed through the ERC.

Last year, two major grants were awarded to Palestine in the education sector. The first grant, worth Dh36.7 million, was given to the University of Jerusalem, while the second one, worth Dh39.5 million, was for the establishment of an education centre, ADFD said in its annual report 2013.

Other countries in the Arab world are also supported by the UAE in the form of grants to help their education, housing, energy, water and transport sections.

In 2013, the ADFD said it gave grants worth about Dh7 billion to Jordan, Morocco and Bahrain.

This included Dh4.6 billion to Jordan, a quarter of the Dh18.4 billion pledged by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

The UAE Government has entrusted ADFD to manage the grant.

While in Morocco, economic development grants of Dh4.6 billion was given towards transportation, infrastructure, drinking water and energy sectors.

The UAE’s close ties with its neighbour Bahrain meant that is has pledged a contribution of Dh9.2 billion over a period of 10 years,

This grant will be given to the Development Program of the GCC for Bahrain.

From the pledged amount, the UAE has already provided DH 5.5 billion for different projects focused on infrastructure such as housing, water and sanitation, health care and road networks.

Sheikha Lubna said she was proud of the contribution the country had made to needy causes around the world.

“The breadth and depth of both development and humanitarian programmes funded by UAE donors in 2013 is staggering and we look forward to expanding these programs in years to come,” she said.

akhaishgi@thenational.ae