UAE Marks World Humanitarian Day, Pledges Support For Vulnerable

ABU DHABI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 18th Aug, 2025) The UAE will commemorate World Humanitarian Day tomorrow, reiterating its pivotal role in providing timely assistance to those affected by crises worldwide. By mid-2024, the country’s foreign aid had supported over one billion people, valued at more than AED368 billion.

This year’s occasion comes as the UAE leads international efforts to aid victims of wars and conflicts, particularly the brotherly Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. According to United Nations reports, Emirati aid accounted for 44 percent of the total international assistance delivered to the Gaza Strip.

To date, the UAE has carried out 73 airdrop operations under its "Birds of Goodness" initiative, part of "Operation Chivalrous Knight 3". The total aid airdropped has exceeded 3,988 tonnes, including food and essential supplies.

The UAE has also affirmed its unwavering commitment to supporting the brotherly Sudanese people, pledging US$200 million during the High-Level Humanitarian Conference for the People of Sudan held in Addis Ababa on 14th February 2025. This brought the total Emirati humanitarian aid provided to Sudan over the past decade to $3.5 billion.

In 2025, the UAE has further enhanced its initiatives to ease the suffering of the Ukrainian people. The UAE Aid Agency signed a cooperation agreement with the Olena Zelenska Foundation to provide additional centres for foster families and orphanages with a contribution of $4.5 million.

Until last February, UAE humanitarian aid to Ukraine had benefited more than 1.2 million people, including one million women and children.

Mediation efforts undertaken by the UAE between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Ukraine have also resulted in 16 prisoner exchange operations, with a total of 4,349 prisoners exchanged.

In terms of natural disaster relief, the UAE provided aid to the Republic of Chad in January 2025, which included 30,000 food baskets and more than 20,000 blankets, to help mitigate the impact of floods in several areas of the country. The UAE also sent 700 tonnes of urgent food supplies to flood-affected areas in Somalia.

At the end of March, the UAE dispatched urgent humanitarian aid to the Republic of Myanmar following an earthquake, delivering more than 200 tonnes of food, shelter supplies and medical aid. Later, it sent over 167 metric tonnes of essential relief materials, including plastic tarps and equipment, to support around 80,000 people affected by the disaster.

On 11th August, specialised teams from the UAE arrived in the Albanian capital, Tirana, to take part in urgent response operations to extinguish fires raging across several regions. The UAE contributed with aircraft, equipment and firefighting materials.

This year has also seen the launch of several humanitarian initiatives with global impact, such as the Fathers’ Endowment campaign, part of whose proceeds will go towards providing healthcare and treatment for the underprivileged and supporting health systems in less fortunate communities by developing hospitals and securing medicines.

Furthermore, the UAE Aid Agency and the Government of Chad signed an agreement to build the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Hospital and a dialysis centre in the capital, N'Djamena, aimed at providing advanced health services and therapeutic care for dialysis patients.