$1m collected for Pakistan flood victims at charity event

Dubai:  More than $1 million (Dh3.67 million) was collected to support Pakistani flood victims in a charity event held on Friday.

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, who attended the event, donated Dh1 million to ‘Pakistan Appeal', a landmark charity event organised by Unicef for Pakistan's flood victims.

Pakistan cricketer turned politician Imran Khan's autographed cricket bat went for Dh70,000 in an auction organised by Quintessentially which took place at Armani Hotel at the Burj Khalifa, aiming to support victims of catastrophic floods that hit Pakistan in mid-August last year.

The charity event was attended by a number of influential people to show their moral and financial solidarity with the millions of suffering victims.

Shaikh Nahyan inaugurated the charity event with a speech about the historic relationship of the UAE and Pakistan: "We offer Pakistan our strong solidarity and will exert every effort to support Pakistan and its people. I pray to Allah to make them overcome any obstacle of life safely and to enable them to achieve their aspirations."

Personal commitment

Shaikh Nahyan expressed his admiration for the country's business environment and reaffirmed his own personal commitment to the banking and telecom sectors in particular. He is also a recipient of Pakistan's highest civilian award, the ‘Hilal-e-Pakistan' which was conferred on him in 2005.

Shaukat Aziz, former prime minister of Pakistan, said: "Today I'm privileged to be at such a generous gathering... As you all know over 20 million people in Pakistan were affected by the floods. I take this opportunity to urge all of you to provide the hand of help. I thank the UAE for its usual generosity and my thanks to Unicef for their usual help. Finally, I would like to announce that so far we have succeeded in collecting Dh100,000 for the victims of the floods."

A number of other dignitaries such as Arif Naqvi, Founder and CEO of Abraaj Capital and Engin Soysal, UN Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan, also spoke.

Pascal Villeneuve, Unicef Pakistan Country Head, made an appeal for aid. Imran Khan also spoke.

Jameel A. Khan, Pakistan Ambassador to the UAE, acknowledged the generosity of the donors.