ABU DHABI --- The UAE provided AED711 million (US$194
million) to support global efforts to eradicate polio in the past five years,
according to a new report released today by the Ministry of International
Cooperation and Development (Micad).
These include a commitment of AED440
million (US$120 million) announced by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed
Forces, at the Global Vaccine Summit held in Abu Dhabi in April 2013, to back
the polio campaigns in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to Micad's report,
released to coincide with the Heroes of Polio Eradication (HOPE) Awards
ceremony, which was held in Abu Dhabi.
The report notes that in 2011, His Highness
the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Gates Foundation made a joint pledge of
US$100 million (AED367 million) to enable the purchase and delivery of vaccines
to children in Afghanistan and Pakistan. One third of these funds were
earmarked specifically for polio vaccinations, to be conducted over a period of
three years.
In 2013 and 2014, the UAE Project to
Assist Pakistan, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, funds were
disbursed to support polio vaccination campaigns in Pakistan.
Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi,
Minister of International Cooperation and Development, and head of UAE
Committee for Coordination of Humanitarian Foreign Aid, said thanks to the
directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice
President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed
bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the
UAE is at the forefront of international humanitarian response to crises and
disasters, and is playing a pivotal role in eradicating polio.
Image by: www.cpc.gov.ae
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