UAE-France Parliamentary Friendship Group Praises UAE’s Humanitarian, Development Initiatives

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 13th Nov, 2018) The UAE-France Parliamentary Friendship Group praised the UAE’s humanitarian and development initiatives around the world.

The group also highlighted the vital programmes and projects implemented by the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, in Yemen.

The group made this statement during a meeting between Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, Secretary-General of the ERC, and Amelia Lacravi, Head of the Group at the French National Assembly, and her delegation that is visiting the country, at the ERC’s headquarters today.

"The ERC is the most consistent humanitarian organisation that offers relief aid to those affected by events in Yemen," Lacravi said while expressing the group’s admiration for the ERC’s humanitarian efforts to help victims of disasters and crises.

Dr. Al Falahi welcomed the group’s visit to the ERC while pointing out that such meetings represent the vision and directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region, and Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, to highlight the country’s overall humanitarian role, as well as its humanitarian initiatives in Yemen.

He said that the meeting was coordinated with the Federal National Council, FNC, under the framework of the overall role of the country’s institutions in highlighting the UAE’s efforts to decrease suffering and safeguard human dignity.

During the meeting, Al Falahi explained the UAE’s strategy to offer humanitarian aid to various people around the world while asserting that it does not discriminate in terms of sex, race or sect.

He also pointed out that this approach has given the UAE credibility and transparency and has made it a leader of giving, topping the list of the world’s donor countries.

Regarding the ERC’s initiatives in Yemen, Al Falahi explained the current humanitarian situation in the country and the ERC’s role in limiting its repercussions.

He also affirmed that the ERC’s presence in Yemen did not just start due to recent events, but it has been in the country for decades and has launched many humanitarian programmes and development projects, especially related to health, education and services.

He added that the ERC is present in all recently liberated Yemeni governorates, where it has restored their vital infrastructure and made them more efficient than before the crisis.

He then pointed out that the ERC, in coordination with relevant international organisations, is also present in other governorates and has implemented joint programmes, especially in the area of health, where it organised vaccination campaigns against cholera and other diseases and epidemics.

Al Falahi stressed that the ERC has created special programmes to control malnutrition among children, and offered thousands of tonnes of food aid while highlighting its future plans, which will witness an expansion of its development, construction and rehabilitation efforts, to provide better living conditions for Yemenis.