Abu Dhabi: Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development, has held extensive talks with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on formulating mechanisms of collaboration that would increase joint cooperation between the UAE and the Foundation in humanitarian and charity work in the world’s developing and impoverished countries.
During the meeting, Shaikha Lubna stated that the UAE’s developmental and humanitarian efforts around the world are based on alleviating the effects of humanitarian crisis and that the directives of the UAE’s wise leadership under the command of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan constantly reaffirm the importance of global humanitarian partnerships.
General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, pledged $120 million (Dh 440 million) in support of global efforts to eradicate polio by 2018, a move that she said will reverberate in the decades to come as an affirmation of the UAE’s global humanitarian supportive role.
The minister also expressed the UAE’s appreciation of its partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stating that the Foundation offers a distinguished and admirable example through its social responsibility efforts, commending the numerous successes it has achieved over the past few years in humanitarian and charity work.
For his part, Gates expressed his appreciation of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed’s initiative, stating that the pledge exceeded all expectations and that it will greatly aid streamlining and expediting the implementation of the mechanisms that are in place to eradicate polio.
He also commended the UAE’s various other humanitarian and developmental efforts, especially in providing assistance to refugees and supplying food aid to drought- stricken countries, as well as its other relief works.
