Abu Dhabi [UAE], October 30 (ANI): As Lebanon reels under attacks by Israel, the country has come under a humanitarian disaster, with thousands of homes destroyed and tens of thousands of Lebanese fleeing to Syria.
Amid the crisis, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) began mobilising resources to speedily deliver relief materials to people there. UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced in the first week of October a two-week aid campaign named “the UAE stands with Lebanon,” which was later extended with an allocation of AED 100 million.
The aid delivery was done in close coordination with international institutions like the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, and UNHCR.
It has been three weeks since the announcement of the UAE’s aid campaign. The campaign seeks to combine government-funded packages and public collection drives, under the oversight of the International Humanitarian and Philanthropic Council. The Council pressed into service the diverse humanitarian organisations and charities working in different Emirates and brought them together so the efforts were unified in a cohesive manner.
The Council, a recently formed umbrella for consolidating the UAE’s multifarious developmental, humanitarian and philanthropic initiatives across continents, is headed by Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court and the UAE President’s son. The collection drives in four cities in the country, namely Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Fujairah, drew massive responses from the public, and thousands of volunteers belonging to a legion of nationalities came forward to help with the packing of aid materials.
It was noted that the response was so huge that Dubai and Abu Dhabi held two collection events each on consecutive weekends in order to accommodate the public enthusiasm to extend a helping hand to the people of Lebanon.
After three weeks, the UAE has delivered AED 100 million worth of relief materials to people in Lebanon and AED 30 million worth to Lebanese refugees in Syria.
In total, 15 planes and a ship carrying 2635 tons of relief materials, including two planes for refugees in Syria, were dispatched within a period of three weeks. The contents of the cargo included food and medical supplies, shelter equipment, ambulances and essentials for women and children.
Augmenting these were the money and materials collected from the public from different Emirates, which amounted to AED 122 million and 1200 tons of relief supplies (45,000 parcels).
The collection drives were organised by various donor agencies under the supervision of the Council and 16687 volunteers participated actively, helping with the packing and arranging of aid materials.
Around 24 donor and volunteer organisations participated in the relief aid collection activities.
These include the Emirates Red Crescent Authority, Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Establishment, Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi Humanitarian Foundation, Ahmed bin Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai, Dubai Humanitarian, Dubai Cares, Sharjah Charity Association, International Humanitarian City, The Big Heart Foundation, Emirates Foundation, Volunteers-Emirates Foundation, Sharjah Centre for Voluntary Work, Fujairah Charity Association, Watani Al Emarat Foundation, International Charity Organisation, Emirates Charity Association, Sharjah Charity House, Dar Al Ber Society, Dubai Charity Association, and Day for Dubai Foundation.
The campaign is still on and the UAE will spare no efforts until full recovery and restoration of security and stability in Lebanon.
According to the UAE’s leaders, philanthropy is in the DNA of the nation and is derived from the legacy of the country’s founder, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who always stressed the UAE’s ethical responsibility to support people in distress anywhere. He once said, “We believe that the good out of the wealth God has bestowed upon us should reach our friends and brothers.” (ANI)
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