Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has launched an international project for immediate food aid for all those affected by crises across the globe.

Shaikh Mohammad directed that the project start in Gaza, which is currently under Israeli aggression, in cooperation with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the UN World Food Programme.

The first aid plane will fly to Gaza with 100,000 meals in the coming days and will be followed by other flights.

Shaikh Mohammad has named the new aid programme ‘Salma’ after the first Emirati nurse who treated patients and saved lives during her 50-year service in the UAE.

The Salma project will provide preserved halal meat to people in crisis-hit locations – as a result of wars and natural disasters – swiftly and in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.

Shaikh Mohammad asserted during the launch of the new relief programme: “Our relief work in the UAE is diverse and multi-channelled; it is also widespread. We are trying through the new programme to bridge a gap in world relief work by customising this programme to become an emergency food aid programme that takes into account the provision of halal food that is high quality for those affected to help them overcome the early days of disasters and conflicts without being exposed to the risk of starvation.”

Shaikh Mohammad also pointed out that directing the first batch of food aid to Gaza is only a part of the comprehensive Emirati programme which provides treatment, food aid, medical supplies and reconstruction of Palestinians’ properties who are subjected to unjust aggression in Gaza.

He added: “The time now is to act and provide relief and support and help and it is not the time for talking. We also call upon all countries and people to stand in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.”

He said the UAE today represents the largest humanitarian station globally, shipping more than half of the humanitarian aid and relief across the world. It will continue this international humanitarian duty, he added, while expanding its role in the areas of global relief as it represents the basic principles upon which the UAE was founded and one of the core values of the people of the UAE.

The Salma emergency food relief programme is a partnership between the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) and the Awqaf, Minors Affairs Foundation in Dubai and Noor Endowments — a body created to support the development of Awqaf all over the world — in collaboration with the UN Food Programme with the aim of managing the production of food packages and meals that are 100 per cent halal.

Dubai’s International Humanitarian City will also be a strategic partner in provide logistical support for the initiative throughout the year.

Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and chairman of DIEDC, stressed that the initiative launched by Shaikh Mohammad is unique and related to the concept of swift food aid relief to those facing war or natural disasters across the world.

Reports say four out of five countries that are most likely to be struck by natural disasters are countries with a Muslim majority. Al Gergawi added that according to The UN Refugee Agency, 70 per cent of refugees are Muslims.

With inputs from WAM