The UAE has been blessed with exceptional wealth, and its leaders have ensured that they have used it to the benefit of the country's citizens. But they have also made substantial efforts to help less fortunate countries, and the government is determined to reduce poverty and promote the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. The UAE's aid contributions have been second to none, but the massive aid programmes have not been recorded or much publicised, and as a result the UAE's efforts in this important area have gone largely unrecognised.
But a new study has finally officially recorded that the UAE donates Dh9 billion annually, about one per cent of its gross national income. The report has also made clear that the UAE's aid budget has held up despite the global financial crisis, and the recipient countries place great value on the continued aid. It is also important that the UAE's aid does not normally come with conditions, in stark contrast to aid from some other countries, which insist that the money is spent through companies based in the donor state.
The total volume of aid has been difficult to record because it has not all come from the UAE government. In addition to the annual Dh9 billion, emirate governments, particularly those of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, have their own large programmes, and several of the country's leaders have substantial personal aid programmes. Many of these programmes have not sought publicity, as was pointed out by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, when he spoke of the massive donations made in the past by Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and nowadays by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and their modesty in refusing to make a show of their aid.
