Global Humanitarian Assistance of UAE - Research Paper Example

? United Arab Emirates’ global humanitarian aid Introduction The United Arab Emirates, commonly known as the UAE or the Emirates, is an Arab country located on the Persian Gulf to the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula. It borders Oman to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south and shares sea borders with Qatar and Iran. The United Arab Emirates is a confederation consisting of seven emirates. These include Abu Dhabi, Fujairah, Dubai, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah, and Sharjah. Each emirate is governed by a hereditary emir and has a single national president. Abu Dhabi serves as the capital of the United Arab Emirates thus making it the center of the state’s political, industrial and cultural activities. In terms of governance, the United Arab Emirates is a Federal Monarchy while its political system draws its formation from the state’s constitution of 1971, which consists of several intricately related governing bodies (United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2012). In essence, the United Arab Emirates is neither a constitutional monarchy nor a republic as the rulers of each monarchy, emirate, retain supreme power within their emirates but a single president retains supreme power over the entire United Arab Emirates. The emirs of the seven emirates choose one of their members to serve as the president of the entire federation, but the chosen emir retains the monarchial character of the individual emirate he heads. In light of this dispensation, the constitution of the United Arab Emirates solely addresses the relations between the emirates and does not impose a constitutional system of governance. Economically, the United Arab Emirates has an open economy, which boasts of a high per capita income and a sizeable annual trade surplus. The economy of the United Arab Emirates is as well one of the most developed economies in Western Asia with a comparatively high Human Development Index. With the world’s seventh largest oil reserves and the world’s seventh largest reserves of natural gas resources, the United Arab Emirates has a relatively high economy. This strong economic potential has influenced the states increased participation in the delivery of global humanitarian assistance. In this regard, the United Arab Emirates is a major donor of emergency relief to nations affected by conflicts as well as naturals disasters in developing countries. In light of this, this paper seeks to addresses the global humanitarian assistance of the United Arab Emirates expressing the extent to which the United Arab Emirates has engaged in issuing humanitarian assistance across the globe. Global humanitarian assistance of the United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates is a renowned contributor of global humanitarian aid having translated its global development and humanitarian aid into an instrument of foreign policy. The philosophy underlying this development is the Islamic belief that helping those in need is a primary duty. Consequently, the United Arab Emirates as well believes that part of its wealth derived from oil and gas resources ought to be dedicated to assisting less providential countries and individuals. In light of this, the World Bank in 2010 recognized the United Arab Emirates as one of the world’s most bighearted contributors to global foreign aid. Global Humanitarian Assistance, an organization that scrutinizes the distribution of charitable aid from governments, in its 2010 report included the United Arab Emirates as the first non-European nation in the international top 10 humanitarian aid donors per head of population. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as well recognized the United Arab Emirates as the fourteenth most generous donor in the globe (Suryatapa, 2010). In essence, the United Arab Emirates is a renowned contributor in global humanitarian aid having undertaken massive humanitarian aid projects in the developing world. The provision of global humanitarian aid by the United Arab Emirates is mainly through government and individual organizations. These include: The government of the United Arab Emirates The government of the United Arab Emirates is as well a major provider of the humanitarian aid provided by the state. In this case, the government of the United Arab Emirates provides government-to-government humanitarian aid and contributes to humanitarian aid efforts of other global organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The government of the United Arab Emirates as well provides financial and humanitarian aid by contributing to programs initiated by the United Nations as well as other global humanitarian aid organizations (Government of the United Arab Emirates, 2012). The government of the United Arab Emirates provides both financial and humanitarian aid through development programs, infrastructure projects as well as offering aid to countries that suffer from wars as well as natural disasters. The significance of the government of the United Arab Emirates in contributing to humanitarian aid programs of the United Nation is a fact highlighted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in 2009. The humanitarian stance of the government of the United Arab Emirates stood out in 2009 when the state engaged in massive humanitarian aid at a time when European powers were shying away amid the global economic recession. During this year, the government of the United Arab Emirates through its humanitarian aid policy contributed to the building of hospitals, townships as well as aiding in relief efforts in Iraq, Palestine as well as Lebanon. The government of the United Arab Emirates as well engages in the provision of humanitarian aid to developing countries through the Dubai Cares organization. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and the emir of Dubai, founded the Dubai Cares organization, which aims at fostering access to quality primary education in developing countries (Dubai Cares, 2012). The government of the United Arab Emirates in 2007 engaged in a campaign by the Dubai Cares organization that raised about one billion United States dollars to aid in the education of over one million children in developing countries. The provision of humanitarian aid by the government of the United Arab Emirates is as well evident through its participation in multilateral humanitarian aid giving institutions. These include the International Development Agency, the OPEC Fund for International Development, the Arab Gulf Fund for the United Nations, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa the Abu Dhabi-based Arab Monetary Fund and Islamic Development Bank (UAE Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid, 2012). In essence, the government of the United Arab Emirates has engaged in the provision of humanitarian aid through the financing of economic and development projects aimed at alleviating poverty in developing countries. However, in the recent years, the emphasis of the government of the United Arab Emirates has shifted to provision of humanitarian assistance in regions affected by natural disasters, wars as well as poverty. This shift has witnessed the involvement of the government of the United Arab Emirates in humanitarian aid campaigns organized by independent organization in offering relief food and other forms of humanitarian assistance. In essence, the government of the United Arab Emirates is a major contributor in the humanitarian aid efforts of the state having engaged significantly in humanitarian aid initiatives. For instance, in the year 2010, the government of the United Arab Emirates spent 272,784,622 United States dollars in financing humanitarian aid initiatives. This amounted to about 35.79% of all the humanitarian aid financing undertaking by the United Arab Emirates including independent humanitarian aid organizations based in the United Arab Emirates. The point of emphasis in this is the fact that the government of the United Arab Emirates is a significant provider of global humanitarian aid (Gulfnews.com, 2010). The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) is the main governmental agency of the United Arab Emirates charged with the responsibility of overseeing the donation of global humanitarian aid. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development was established in the year 1971 and has to date overseen the provision of over 3.45 billion United States dollars to developing countries mainly in Africa in the form of soft loans and grants. It is an autonomous organization owned by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The main aim of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is to help developing countries grow and develop by providing them with concessionary loans, development grants as well as equity participation. In this regard, the organization aims at financing development projects to support efforts by developing countries to achieve economic as well as social development (Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, 2012). The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development as well makes investment initiatives aimed at encouraging the private sector in the developing countries it invests in play a crucial role in accelerating the economic development process. In light of these aims, the mission of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is to assist developing countries realize sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty. This is through the provision of financial resources, formation of partnerships in the public and private sectors as well as the adoption of global best practices to guarantee aid effectiveness. In essence, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has provided loan and grants amounting to 14.6 billion AED while it has overseen about 13.45 billion AED in loans and grants for the Abu Dhabi government (Ansher.solutions.uz, 2008). The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has as well invested 900.9 million AED while its total loans, grants and investments amount to 28.9 billion AED. This significantly huge amount of funds has been used in financing 319 projects spread over 58 countries across the globe. In 2010, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development contributed about 217,471,261 United States dollars to humanitarian aid initiatives. This amounted to about 28.53% of all the humanitarian aid contributions of the United Arab Emirates thus making it the second largest contributor to humanitarian aid in the United Arab Emirates after the government. The point of emphasis in this is the fact that the United Arab Emirates through the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has engaged significantly in providing global humanitarian aid. However, the core humanitarian aid provided by the United Arab Emirates though the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development has been the alleviation of poverty in developing countries by financing development projects. The United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority The United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority is the United Arab Emirates affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Its inception dates back to 1983 though it gained international recognition in 1986 when it became the 139th member society of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Abu Dhabi Government, 2012). The United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority plays a crucial role in the provision of humanitarian aid both in the United Arab Emirates as well as internationally. The authority is renowned for its speed in responding to events irrespective of circumstances and risks as well as its dissemination of international humanitarian law principles in an extensive manner. It is as well renowned for its initiatives of building a healthy and safe society by fostering social peace among communities in the United Arab Emirates as well as the global community. The core mission of the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority is to mobilize the power of humanity to support the vulnerable in the society. The United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority is a voluntary based institution that shares the same objectives and principles that underlie the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Its objectives include providing humanitarian aid locally and internationally as well as promoting the culture of volunteerism to increase, the role individuals play in the provision of humanitarian aid. In light of its core objectives, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority is the main humanitarian aid and relief agency of the United Arab Emirates. In this regard, it takes a front row in fostering the humanitarian aid initiatives of the United Arab Emirates government though it is an independent organization. In light of its independence, it upholds the principles of international movement such as non-alignment, non-alignment as well as independence. Chaired by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the representative of the emir in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority has engaged significantly in the provision of global humanitarian aid. This is by responding to emergency situations as well as undertaking health and humanitarian projects. In this respect, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority in August 2012 organized a telethon aimed at raising funds to provide humanitarian aid to individuals facing starvation in the Horn of Africa. The campaign dabbed the Suqyahum collected cash, food, medicine as well as clothing, which the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority provided to the famine-hit horn of Africa region. Consequently, in May 2012, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority announced that over the next four years it will spend Dh440 million in Pakistan. These funds will go towards the construction of houses for the individuals displaced by the 7.6 magnitude earthquake of 2005 that killed about 79,000 people. The funds will as well finance a welfare project that aims at constructing vocational training schools, health units, schools, mosques as well as drinking water facilities in regions affected by floods in 2010. In October 2012, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority as well delivered about one hundred and fourteen tons of humanitarian aid in the form of foodstuffs, utensils and detergents to Syrian refugees in Jordan (UAE Interact, 2012). In essence, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority spent about Dh512.6 million in providing humanitarian aid in the United Arab Emirates as well as overseas in the course of 2011. In regards to global humanitarian aid, the agency in 2011 spent a total of Dh 346 million in over 50 countries affected by conflicts as well as natural disasters. In essence, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority is a major agency for the provision of global humanitarian aid by the United Arab Emirates. Its presence has highly been witnessed in Somalia, Libya and Pakistan where the authority has undertaken massive humanitarian aid initiatives. As an affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent Authority focuses solely on providing humanitarian aid but as well fosters the financing of development projects aimed at alleviating poverty. Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is a government-charity organization founded in 2007 by Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates and the emir of Abu Dhabi. It is a global humanitarian aid organization that aims at helping the underprivileged, supporting students of science as well as developing social, health as well as cultural services. In light of this aims, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation provides humanitarian aid to victims of human conflict and natural disasters. It as well supports health and societal centers, family and vocational associations as well as institutions that provide care for the elderly. Since its inception, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation has undertaken humanitarian aid initiatives in over 35 countries spread across Europe, Asia, Africa as well as Oceania. The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is the fourth largest humanitarian aid organization in the United Arab Emirates having provided grants of about AED 185.7 million in 2009. These funds went to the provision of humanitarian aid in about 39 countries across the globe by financing projects such as health, water and sanitation, social infrastructure as well as other humanitarian aid projects. Consequently, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation spent about AED 157.3 million of the aforementioned funds in South and Central Asia. This entailed the provision of water and sanitation projects in Afghanistan, humanitarian aid in Pakistan as well as health projects in Kazakhstan. About AED 13.1 million of the remaining amount was spent in humanitarian aid initiatives in the Middle East with most initiatives being in the Palestinian territories. The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation spent the remaining amount in humanitarian aid initiatives in Africa as well as Europe. In August 2012, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation announced its partnership with Du in supporting the ‘Feekom Al Khair w Al Barakah’ campaign, which is a Ramadan home renovation campaign. In this partnership, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation committed itself to managing the renovation of about 30 homes for Emirati orphans (Mesbah, 2012). In April the same year, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation as well announced that it would extend its support for the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan School in Beit Lahia, Gaza. The Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan School in Beit Lahia hosts two elementary schools and serves about 2,800 pupils. Offering support for the school enable the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation participate directly in the provision of decent education to Palestine refugee schoolchildren. In this support, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation caters for the costs of maintaining and supporting the school (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, 2012). In August 2012, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation as well announced that it would contribute towards the ‘Feed the Fasting’ Ramadan project in the Gaza Strip. The contribution by the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation would enable the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees provide protein-rich Iftar dinners for over 28,000 poor people during the Holy Month. In 2011, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation gave a grant of about one hundred and fifty million United States Dollars to MD Anderson. This was the largest donation in the history of the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and the largest single contribution to an organization in the Texas Medical Center region. Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his family foundation provided the grant with the aim of enabling MD Anderson to advance significantly in the field of personalized cancer therapies while accelerating the pace of pancreatic cancer research (The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2011). In essence, the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation is a major contributor of global humanitarian aid for the United Arab Emirates. In 2010, it provided humanitarian aid amounting to about 73,450,810 United States dollars, which is 9.6% of all the humanitarian aid provided by the United Arab Emirates. In light of this, it is the fourth largest humanitarian aid provider in the United Arab Emirates and is well renowned for its humanitarian aid initiatives in helping the poor, fostering access to quality education as well as developing social, health and cultural services. The Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation The Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation was founded in 1992 in honor of the philanthropic initiatives of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former President of the United Arab Emirates. Its founding served as a crowning of the successful philanthropic initiative of the United Arab Emirates and represented another chapter of the philanthropic deeds initiated by the former president based on the principles of Islamic faith and Arab traditions. The core aim of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation is to conduct humanitarian activities and provide public utilities in the United Arab Emirates as well as abroad. In this regard, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation provides underprivileged students with study grants as well as scholarships (Gulfnews.com, 2008). It as well offers support in the field of writing, translating as well as publishing. The Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation is as well a major contributor in support efforts aimed at developing hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, first aid centers, childcare centers, orphanages as well as homes for the elderly. The Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation is renowned for its provision of humanitarian aid to individuals suffering from extreme pains, chronic and incurable diseases. It as well offers significant humanitarian aid to individuals who need to undergo complex surgical operations. In regards to these individuals, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation provides maximum help by catering for the medical expenses as well as providing care and medical facilities. Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation as well provides financial assistance to expatriates who are unable to cover costs for illnesses or whose treatment needs travelling abroad. Through its medical treatment scheme, the foundation provides significant medical related humanitarian aid to underprivileged individuals in the United Arab Emirates as well as abroad. Since the inception of the medical treatment scheme in 1995, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation has to the year 2006 provided humanitarian medical aid to about 1,800 individuals of all nationalities, ages and illnesses. Since the founding of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation in 1992, it has spent about AED 30,236,826 to the year 2006 in the provision of humanitarian aid in the United Arab Emirates as well as abroad. The Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation is the fifth largest humanitarian aid provider in the United Arab Emirates. In this regard, it provided humanitarian aid amounting to about 19,847,930 United States dollars in the year 2010. This amounts to about 2.6% of the total humanitarian aid provided by the United Arab Emirates in that year. It is a major provider of global humanitarian aid particularly in the field of health and medical services. Other humanitarian aid organizations While the aforementioned humanitarian aid organizations are the major humanitarian aid organizations of the United Arab Emirates, there are other government-based and independent organizations that provide global humanitarian aid in the United Arab Emirates. These include the Al Maktoum Foundation, which has a presence in over 60 countries across the Arab world as well as the Western world. The Al Maktoum Foundation aims at improving social, economic, health and education welfares of individuals. In this regard, the foundation has built a couple of medical and cultural centers, schools and academics as well as sponsored orphans and helped poor families and funding medical students. The International Humanitarian City is another global humanitarian aid organization of the United Arab Emirates that provides facilities and services to all international humanitarian aid actors. It is a non-religious, non-profit and non-political organization, which groups participants in a safe environment and presents profitable companies the chance to work from a strategic location. Noor Dubai is as well another crucial humanitarian aid organization of the United Arab Emirates. Its aim is to thwart and treat blindness as well as poor vision thus it target over one million individuals in the world in a drive aimed at riding the world of curable forms of blindness. In this regard, Noor Dubai provides therapeutic, preventive and educational programs aimed at thwarting preventable visual impairment in developing countries. The Dubai Charity Association is another government based humanitarian aid organization of the United Arab Emirates, which provides global humanitarian aid. Founded in 1994 under a Ministerial Decision issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the Dubai Charity Association has funded the construction of mosques, schools and wells. It supports religious observance and provides Iftar, Eid clothes and meats for sacrifice to underprivileged individuals in Asia and Africa. Conclusion The United Arab Emirates is a major contributor of global humanitarian aid having undertaken massive humanitarian aid projects across the globe. With many humanitarian aid organizations, the United Arab Emirates provides significant humanitarian aid aimed at alleviating poverty in developing countries. The government of the United Arab Emirates is the major contributor of global humanitarian aid for the United Arab Emirates. It provides government-to-government humanitarian aid and supports development projects in developing countries to alleviate poverty and foster economic growth. The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development is as well a major agency of the United Arab Emirates that provides humanitarian aid by fostering development projects in developing countries. In essence, the United Arab Emirates contributes significantly to global humanitarian aid initiatives owing to the Islamic belief that helping those in need is a primary duty. The United Arab Emirates as well believes that part of its wealth derived from oil and gas resources ought to be dedicated to assisting less providential countries and individuals. In light of these beliefs, the United Arab Emirates has translated it foreign aid and humanitarian aid initiatives into an instrument of foreign policy. The World Bank in 2010 recognized the United Arab Emirates as one of the world’s most philanthropic contributors to global foreign aid for its increased contributions to global humanitarian aid. Global Humanitarian Assistance, an organization that scrutinizes the distribution of charitable aid from governments, as well in its 2010 report identified the United Arab Emirates as the first non-European nation in the international top 10 humanitarian aid donors per head of population. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as well recognized the United Arab Emirates as the fourteenth most generous donor in the globe. The many humanitarian aid organizations of the United Arab Emirates enhance its provision of global humanitarian aid thus making the United Arab Emirates a highly philanthropic country. The aforementioned recognitions identify the United Arab Emirates as a major contributor of global humanitarian aid. References Abu Dhabi Government. (2012). Red Crescent Authority (RCA). Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Emirates News Agency, WAM. (2010). UAE Red Crescent crosses 27th milestone. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from UAE Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid. (2012). UAE Donors. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from   Dubai Cares. (2012). Our Story. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Mesbah, Rana. (2012). Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation joins hands with Du's home renovation fundraising campaign. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. (2011). Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation Provides MD Anderson with $150 Million Grant. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. (2012). Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation extends its support to the Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nehayan School run by UNRWA in Beit Lahia, Gaza. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Permanent Mission of the United Arab Emirates in Geneva. (2012). Humanitarian Affairs. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2012). Foreign Aid. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from UAE Interact. (2011). Humanitarian Aid. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Abu Dhabi Fund for Development. (2012). About ADFD. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Gulfnews.com. (2008). UAE donated $4.2b in aid to Palestine. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Government of the United Arab Emirates. (2012). UAE Foreign Aid Report 2011. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Suryatapa, Bhattacharya. (2010). UAE in Top 10 donors of humanitarian aid. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Ansher.solutions.uz. (2008). Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to Invest $278mln in Irrigation of Uzbekistan. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Gulfnews.com. (2010). UAE to intensify humanitarian aid to Pakistan. Retrieved December 2, 2012 from Read More