The UAE and the International Committee of the Red Cross have signed an agreement to establish an office for the humanitarian organisation in Abu Dhabi.
The new office aims to strengthen co-operation and partnership between the two sides, news agency Wam said.
The Geneva-based agency has a presence in Dubai with an office at International Humanitarian City.
Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Co-operation, said the UAE is always keen to assist international organisations carrying out their relief work.
"We cherish the distinguished relations and strengthened co-operation we have with the ICRC," Ms Al Hashimy said.
"The agreement to establish an office for the committee in the UAE will contribute to achieving the desired goals in terms of relief work, reaching the needy and using modern technologies in this field, in light of the great challenges currently facing relief work in many regions of the world."
Peter Maurer, president of the ICRC, said they are grateful for the UAE's ongoing support.
"The UAE plays an important role and is a key partner of the ICRC," said Mr Maurer.
"The ICRC is proud to have the UAE as part of our donor support group and we are committed to continuing to strengthen our partnership in providing assistance to people affected by crises."
In May, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, the Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and chairman of the ERC, said the UAE is one of the world's key donors and supporters of the ICRC and Red Crescent Movement.
"The UAE has become a regional centre for support, supply and logistics in the field of emergency humanitarian relief, and a permanent headquarters for many international humanitarian organisations that have found in the Emirates the appropriate place to manage their relief operations in the neighbouring regions," Sheikh Hamdan said, speaking ahead of the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day on May 8.
"The UAE has a good infrastructure that qualified it to play this vital role, and from its lands relief convoys depart by land, sea and air to various countries and regions experiencing crises and natural disasters, until it has become one of the most important actors and donors of humanitarian aid in the world."
In 2020, 14.9 million Red Cross and Red Crescent volunteers reached more than 688 million people with disaster and other emergency response work, 306 million more with health activities, and 125 million with clean water and sanitation assistance.
Red Cross in Ukraine — in pictures
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Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry an internally displaced 92-year-old woman to an ambulance in a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Internally displaced elderly people wait for the Ukrainian Red Cross to evacuate them from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A member of the Ukrainian Red Cross talks to an internally displaced 92-year-old woman before taking her to an ambulance in a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross before moving an elderly woman to an ambulance in a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Members of the Ukrainian Red Cross carry an internally displaced 92-year-old woman to an ambulance from a bunker at a factory in Severodonetsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Local residents wait in line to receive humanitarian aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Mykolaiv area of Ukraine. Getty Images -
Red Cross workers haul a cart with an injured Ukrainian serviceman to a hospital in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. AP Photo -
A Ukrainian refugee holds her baby as she walks out of a Romanian Red Cross tent at the Isaccea border crossing, north-eastern Romania. AFP -
People near the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol accompanied by a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at a temporary accommodation centre in the village of Bezimenne in Donetsk, Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian refugees hold their babies as they stand outside a Romanian Red Cross tent at the Isaccea border crossing, north-eastern Romania. AFP -
Ukrainians helping out in a Red Cross volunteer centre in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
In this image provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, an official waves a white flag while approaching the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP Photo
