Sharjah 24 – WAM: The value of foreign aid provided by the UAE from 2010 to 2021 totalled AED206.034 billion (US$56.14 billion), further confirming its ongoing support of global efforts to achieve peace and prosperity and provide developmental, humanitarian and charitable aid to many developing countries.
This data was published in a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), which highlighted the fact that, during this period, the UAE has maintained its high rate of official developmental assistance, and was ranked the world’s leading development aid donor for four consecutive years, and ranked second and fourth in other years during the same period.
The UAE's foreign aid consists of three key categories, which are development, humanitarian and charitable aid, the report added.
The development aid provided by the UAE accounted for some 87.7 percent of the total value of its foreign aid, while humanitarian and charitable aid accounted for 9.9 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.
Around 59.1 percent 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 other 40.9 percent.
The UAE’s foreign aid covered 25 key sectors and 131 sub-sectors, according to the report.
The report addressed the geographical distribution of Emirati foreign aid from 2010 to 2021, with the African continent accounting for nearly half, Asian countries for around 40 percent, and Europe, the Americas and Oceania for nearly 5 percent, while multilateral programmes and organisations received around 5 percent of the total foreign aid.
The report explained that UAE foreign aid helped achieve the sustainable development plan set by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2015, offering AED110.467 billion (US$30.1 billion) of foreign aid between 2016 and 2020.
The report showed that the UAE supported the renewable energy sector from 2010 to 2020 with foreign aid amounting to around AED1.97 billion (US$537.7 million), highlighting that the UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund (UAE-CREF), and the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund (UAE-PPF) received US$50 million each.
The report stressed the UAE’s keenness to empower women in priority sectors through its foreign aid policy. 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 percent of the UAE's total foreign aid.
The UAE’s international efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic included providing over 2,250 tonnes of medical aid to nearly 136 countries, the report explained. International organisations operating from the International Humanitarian City in Dubai also sent over 955 aid shipments to 177 countries. The UAE also provided support to the World Health Organisation and the World Food Program by providing around 500,000 PCR test kits, at a value of 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.
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