The UAE's generosity dates back to the humanitarian vision of founder Sheikh Zayed: paper

ABU DHABI 29th November 2015 (WAM) -- Five months before the formation of the UAE in July 1971 Sheikh Zayed set out a marker for the new country's foreign policy as a commitment to the stability prosperity and peace of other nations according to a local daily.

With capital of AED 500 million the future President then Ruler of Abu Dhabi created the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD). Within three years the fund had spent AED 377 million on 10 aid projects in Tunisia Egypt Jordan Syria Yemen and Bahrain. Forty-four years later that sum stands at more than AED 35 billion on 325 projects in 59 countries.

The Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National in an article published today says that even more impressive is that ADFD is today just one of more than 45 organisations handing out overseas aid from the UAE. "Today the country is the world's largest giver of official development aid relative to its national income with AED 36 billion provided to developing countries between 2010 and 2014 alone."

In 1983 Sheikh Zayed established the Red Crescent in the UAE. Since then the authority has responded to emergencies and implemented health programmes in more than 100 countries maintaining the international principles of non-alignment non-intervention and independence.

This year the Red Crescent spent AED 664 million on humanitarian and development programmes in Yemen.

Its #Yemen: We Care campaign raised more than AED 500 million in just six days to help rebuild the country. The connection with Yemen goes back many years. The Marib Dam recently recaptured from the Houthi insurgency was built with UAE support in the 1980s just one of many humanitarian projects that ensured fruitful relations between the two states for decades to come the English language newspaper said.

The Red Crescent is also playing a huge role in the UAE's humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees providing AED 600 million of the total AED 2 billion that the country has raised in the past three years.

Support for Arab neighbours is intuitive to the UAE's aim of peace and prosperity across the region. Diplomatic relations go back as far as 1959 when Gamal Abdel Nasser agreed to provide Abu Dhabi with Egyptian teachers engineers and agricultural experts. From 1971 until last year the UAE provided almost AED 47.5 billion in humanitarian and development aid to Egypt.

However the UAE has not just offered support to its Arab neighbours but to all developing nations. In 1975 it loaned $100 million to support programmes in Pakistan one of its first diplomatic partners. It has continued to support Pakistan's development; funding educational institutions hospitals and infrastructure. Numerous complexes such as the Sheikh Zayed Medical Complex in Karachi have been named after the founding President in recognition of both his and the UAE's generosity.

In times of crisis the UAE has extended a crucial helping hand. In 2005 Sheikh Khalifa the President pledged $100 million and the Red Crescent raised $8 million for earthquake recovery in Pakistan and India. Five years later when Pakistan was ravaged by floods the UAE donated more than $30 million.

Pakistan has also benefited from a campaign to eradicate polio launched in 2011 by Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Though AED 367.3 million was first pledged two years later the campaign scaled up its ambition with AED 440 promised towards eradicating the disease by 2018.

After the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan the UAE's Red Crescent (Emirates Red Crescent) sponsored 40000 refugees providing them with food shelter and health care.

The UAE first pledged $36 million for the effort at the 2002 Tokyo Donors Conference. However this soon grew to $550 million by 2008 as the UAE and its leaders grew increasingly ambitious about rebuilding the country's infrastructure and education health and defence sectors.

The 6400-student Sheikh Zayed University in Khost was named in 2008 in recognition of the UAE's financial support. The UAE also contributed to the construction of 11 schools six medical clinics for 35000 patients 38 mosques a 7000-patient hospital a public library accommodation for 200 families 160 wells and other developments.

A further AED 92 million was spent clearing Kandahar of 11000 mines making the area safe for commercial agricultural and residential use. The achievement mirrors the AED 260 million spent under Operation Emirates Solidarity clearing southern Lebanon of 58000 mines from 2001 to 2009.

From 2011 to 2013 the UAE raised nearly AED1 billion in aid for Afghanistan with 45 percent coming directly from the Government and 41 percent from ADFD.

At the end of the article the paper wrote that country's commitment remains as strong today as it did in 1971. Earlier this year Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Minister of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister deployed a UAE search-and-rescue team of 88 people after a series of earthquakes in Nepal to find survivors of a disaster that killed almost 9000 and injured 22000.

In all this is the vision expressed by Sheikh Zayed that "the grace of wealth bestowed upon us by the Almighty must be unfolded to encircle our friends and brethren around the world".