UAE’s Sheikh Mohamed: The President who extends a helping hand to those in need, regardless of religion or race
He always underscored the UAE’s humanitarian approach which entails providing aid to all peoples of the world
One of the hallmarks of the UAE President, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is his advocacy for human dignity, which is most felt in times of international crises and disasters, when the UAE exemplifies its generosity by supporting countries and communities in need.
Early in his administration as the third president, Sheikh Mohamed has drawn up the plan how the UAE will extend a helping hand and build bridges of peace. He said: “Continuing Sheikh Zayed’s approach, we will work to strengthen our role among the world’s leading countries by providing humanitarian aid, and by continuing to extend a helping hand to communities in need around the world, irrespective of religion or race.”
Here, we look back at some of the major contributions of the UAE in international humanitarian work in the past year.
In February this year, a day after a deadly magnitude 7.8 earthquake and several aftershocks hit Syria and Türkiye, the President immediately ordered an aid package totalling $100 million for humanitarian relief. The aid was divided equally between Syria and Türkiye, which both suffered mass casualties and large-scale damages to buildings and infrastructure.
Few days later, Sheikh Mohamed ordered an additional $50 million aid for Syria. As much as $20 million of the additional aid was allocated to implement humanitarian projects in response to the emergency appeal by the United Nations.
The UAE also set up an air-bridge to fly much-needed relief supplies, medical equipment, emergency aid. Sheikh Mohamed likewise ordered the Joint Operations Command of the Ministry of Defence to launch ‘Gallant Knight 2’ operation to provide assistance for the affected peoples of Syria and Türkiye, including the worst-hit areas of Türkiye’s Kahramanmaraş province, near the earthquake epicentre.
A field hospital was set up in the Turkish city of Gaziantep, and another field hospital was established in the Reyhanli area of the Turkish city of Hatay that carried the name ‘Mohamed bin Zayed’.
In June last year, the UAE President also ordered the immediate creation of an aid air bridge to quake-hit Afghanistan for quick deployment of emergency humanitarian relief, food and medical supplies.
A medical team was also sent, and a makeshift hospital was built to help people in Khost and Paktika provinces in southeastern Afghanistan, following a powerful earthquake that resulted in thousands of casualties.
