The UAE’s aid program represents the country’s success story in employing its increasing logistical capabilities in the humanitarian, social and economic fields, enabling it to provide aid in regions stricken by poverty, humanitarian disasters and conflicts.
The UAE’s charitable and humanitarian work reflects a legacy established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, God rest his soul, who made sure that compassion and comradery are firmly rooted in the Emirati culture as well as a key element of the Emirati foreign policy, an Islamic commitment and of the principals or the Emirati society.
Therefore, the standards adopted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in terms of humanitarian action and sustainable development, are in line with the international principles and priorities set by the UN agendas regarding the Millennium Development Goals, the Agenda for Sustainable Development, The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, and the Accra Agenda for Action since the early 2000s.
Today, the United Arab Emirates is a major player characterized by transparency and responsiveness at the level of international humanitarian action, which follows up and participates innovatively in the field of humanitarian aid, through the adoption of a smart foreign policy that not only measures up to liberal/neoliberal humanitarian standards, institutions and practices but also cares about protecting its national political and economic interests, in the face of regional and international challenges.
Therefore, the humanitarian presence of the Emirati foreign policy contributed to strengthening the country’s image and consolidating its position as a major actor in international humanitarian work, concerned with human development and working to reduce poverty, which multiplies the positive results of its aid and enhances the country’s position at the regional and international levels.
Moreover, Dubai’s International Humanitarian City (IHC) is currently the largest humanitarian aid workshop in the Middle East, an independent, non-profit humanitarian zone that includes UN agencies, intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and commercial bodies working in the humanitarian sector.
This city has played a key role in strengthening relations with the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations, attracting private companies operating in the humanitarian sector to the UAE and expanding the logistics services sector to include humanitarian services.
The recent UAE relief operations to support earthquake-affected Turkey and Syria represent a starting point for strengthening diplomatic partnerships based on humanity, neutrality, independence, integrity, and respect for international humanitarian law.
Today, the UAE’s interest in addressing human suffering wherever it may be, regardless of the political differences that many countries consider an obstacle to aid work, makes it clear that the UAE is a country of humanity and giving.
