UAE ranked world’s top aid donor for third straight year
MOHAMMAD SAYS THAT COUNTRY GIVES ‘FOR THE GOOD AND STABILITY OF ALL PEOPLES’
The UAE spends more on aid to develop other countries than any other nation on earth compared to its wealth, states a new Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report.
Data published yesterday by the Paris-based organisation, which has a membership of 35 developed countries, noted that the UAE spent Dh15.23 billion worth of development assistance in 2016.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, hailed the news.
“The UAE does not provide conditional assistance and neither does for the sake of reciprocal interests. It does so only for the good and stability of all peoples,” the Vice-President said on Twitter.
The OECD announcement coincides with the UAE’s Year of Giving, which sees the Emirati people launch new charitable initiatives every day, Shaikh Mohammad said.
Shaikh Mohammad tweeted: “The announcement of the UAE being ranked first development assistance donor in 2016 coincides with the UAE’s Year of Giving during which the Emirati people launch new charitable initiatives every day.
“The new achievement would not have been possible without the guidance and support by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces,” he said.
Last year, international aid contributions of 29 countries that are members of the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) averaged 0.32 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI). GNI is the sum of the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country. This figure is slightly up from 0.30 per cent in 2015.
In contrast, the UAE gave more than three times that average over the same time frame — donating 1.12 per cent of its GNI in foreign aid.
The UAE reports its aid flows to the OECD even though it is not a member.
Within the OECD’s member nations, the most generous country in proportion to its national wealth was Norway. The oil-rich Scandinavian country gave 1.11 per cent of its GNI in foreign aid last year, followed by Luxembourg, at 1 per cent, and Sweden, at 0.94 per cent.
Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said the UAE has become a role model for humanitarian assistance.
The UAE is among the top donors for the fourth year and the first globally for the third successive year. Last year saw the continuation of providing aid to Africa, which received Dh8.95 billion of the UAE’s total development assistance — around 54 per cent.
Reem Ebrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation, praised the directives and guidance of the UAE’s leaders in providing humanitarian aid to people and countries in need worldwide.