UAE stays at forefront of global aid efforts

The UAE provided more than AED 206 billion in foreign aid from 2010 to 2021.

That's according to data published in a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC).

It showed the country was ranked the world’s leading development aid donor for four consecutive years, and ranked second and fourth during the same period in other years.

The UAE's foreign aid consists of three key categories: development, humanitarian and charitable.

Development aid accounted for 87.7 per cent of the total value of the UAE's global aid, while humanitarian and charitable aid accounted for 9.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent.

Around 59.1 per cent of the UAE's total development aid was in the form of grants, which recipient countries are not required to repay, while concessional loans accounted for the rest.

The UAE’s foreign aid covered 25 key sectors and 131 sub-sectors, with the African continent accounting for nearly half, Asian countries for around 40 per cent, and Europe, the Americas and Oceania for nearly 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, multilateral programmes and organisations received around 5 per cent of the total foreign aid.

The report highlighted how the UAE's foreign aid helped achieve the sustainable development plan set by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2015, offering AED 110.467 billion of foreign aid between 2016 and 2020.

The UAE contributed around AED1.97 billion to the renewable energy sector, with the UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund (UAE-CREF), and the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund (UAE-PPF) receiving US$50 million each.

In 2018, the country launched the '100% Women Policy', stipulating Emirati foreign aid will target female empowerment and gender equality by 2021.

According to the report, from 2016 to 2020, over AED6.17 billion (US$1.68 billion) was allocated to women’s empowerment and protection, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the UAE's total foreign aid.

The UAE has sent over 2,250 tonnes of medical aid to nearly 136 countries since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

International organisations operating from the International Humanitarian City in Dubai also sent over 955 aid shipments to 177 countries.

The UAE supported the World Health Organisation and the World Food Program by providing around 500,000 PCR test kits valued at AED36.7 million (around US$10 million), in addition to aiding in the transport of two field hospitals from Norway and Belgium to Ghana and Ethiopia at a cost of US$4 million.

Additionally, the UAE has established field hospitals in Jordan, Guinea Conakry, Sudan, Mauritania, Lebanon and Sierra Leone to aid in their fight against COVID-19.

Furthermore, the report addressed the UAE’s support for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), and its pledge to provide AED367 million (around US$100 million) during a donors’ conference in Dakar, Senegal, in 2018, which was paid out over three phases from 2018 to 2020, supporting education in 90 countries.

In July 2021, the UAE also pledged to provide the same amount to support a strategic global partnership plan for education over the next five years.