DUBAI // The UAE’s spirit of giving during Ramadan has been praised by a senior official from a country to have benefited from the support.
From distributing clothes to orphans to providing iftar meals to tens of thousands of families across the world, various UAE charitable organisations have played an important role in alleviating some of the hardships endured by the disadvantaged during the Holy Month.
Pakistan has benefited from the distribution of more than 135,000 bags of flour across the country during Ramadan.
Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the UAE, praised the relationship between the two countries.
“This isn’t just about the aid the UAE sends in Ramadan but also at other times of the year,” he said.
“The Ramadan aid is gratefully received by the people of Pakistan and shows the friendship between our two countries.
“As a country we are really appreciative of this aid but also of the US$300 million action programme that has helped survivors of earthquakes and floods.”
As well as this the UAE has also led the fight against polio as part of a $100m reduction project that has been running for two years and is on course to wipe out the disease, he said.
The aid provided by the UAE has come in many forms.
Earlier this week Sharjah Charity International distributed clothes to more than 27,000 orphans in 19 countries.
The Dh1.3 million project aims to bring some festive cheer to youngsters in time for Eid this weekend.
In Egypt, needy families were given 4,000 food packages from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity and Humanitarian Establishment.
The charity also launched its 1,000 Family Project initiative in Sheikh Makrum Village, Sohag to meet the basic needs of disadvantaged families in the Egyptian city.
The Emirates Red Crescent has been particularly active this Ramadan, with charitable Zakat Al Fitr fund distributions to the needy in Rabat, Morocco and Jakarta, Indonesia.
Along with the delivery of 2,200 food parcels to thousands of Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian families in south Lebanon, Dh50,000 was donated to an iftar project in Malaysia and 830 tonnes of aid went to parts of Yemen.
The Red Crescent has also provided clothing to 600 poor and special needs Palestinian children as part of its Eid Al Fitr initiative.
The Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation provided iftar and suhoor meals to more than 600,000 people in 62 countries during Ramadan.
The aid has included 135,000 bags of flour in six regions of Pakistan and bags of food being sent to mosques and Islamic institutions in Paris for distribution.
About 1,000 meals and food baskets were sent to needy families in the Republic of Burundi, while a further 400 food baskets and 500 iftar meals were given to those in need in the capital, Bujumbura, and a number of other provinces.
The foundation also provided thousands of food baskets to families whose homes have been completely destroyed in the Gaza Strip.
Thousands of dates were distributed across the Seychelles; 800 food packs to the needy in Gambia; and 200 Ramadan aid packs were sent to poor families in the Tunisian town of Tuwarif, with a further 2,000 food packages handed out to families in the north-west of the country.
Closer to home the foundation paid the expenses for the deportation of 250 pardoned prisoners of various nationalities.
The Al Maktoum Foundation sent 20kg of food rations in Egypt, which was the second phase of a project to help poor families in the country.
It has also implemented a Dh1.3m iftar project for orphans and the poor in Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Chad, South Sudan and Darfur, in Sudan.
Elsewhere, the Emirati Charity Works Authority office in Palestine launched the Zayed Humanitarian Work Day.
This includes creating Ramadan banquets in Al Aqsa Mosque and the distribution of 10,000 iftar and suhoor meals.
The UAE Suqia Water Aid campaign, which aims to provide clean drinking water to almost 3,000 orphans, was also implemented this Ramadan.
nhanif@thenational.ae