UAE’s foreign aid from 2010 to 2021 totalled $56.14bn

The value of foreign aid provided by the UAE from 2010 to 2021 totalled $56.14bn according to data published in a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC).
The UAE’s foreign aid consists of three key categories, which are development, humanitarian and charitable aid, the report added.

The development aid provided by the UAE accounted for around 87.7 per cent of the total value of its foreign aid, while humanitarian and charitable aid accounted for 9.9 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

Around 59.1 per cent of the UAE’s total development aid was in the form of grants, which recipient countries are not required to repay, while concessional loans accounted for the other 40.9 per cent.
The UAE’s foreign aid covered 25 key sectors and 131 sub-sectors, state-news agency WAM said while citing the report.

The African continent accounting for nearly half of the foreign aid between 2010-2021, with Asian countries for around 40 per cent, and Europe, the Americas and Oceania for nearly 5 per cent, while multilateral programmes and organisations received the remaining 5 per cent of the total foreign aid.
UAE foreign aid reportedly helped achieve the sustainable development plan set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, offering $30.1bn of foreign aid between 2016 and 2020.

The UAE also supported the renewable energy sector from 2010 to 2020 with foreign aid amounting to around $537.7m, with the UAE-Caribbean Renewable Energy Fund and the UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund receiving $50m each.

As part of its efforts to empower women through its foreign aid policy, in 2018 the UAE launched the ‘100% Women Policy’, stipulating Emirati foreign aid will target female empowerment and gender equality by 2021. The report noted that from 2016 to 2020 over $1.68bn was allocated to women’s empowerment and protection, accounting for 6.2 per cent of the UAE’s total foreign aid.

With regards to the Covid-19 pandemic, the UAE provided over 2,250 tonnes of medical aid to nearly 136 countries. International organisations operating from the International Humanitarian City in Dubai also sent over 955 aid shipments to 177 countries. The UAE supported the World Health Organisation and the World Food Program by providing around 500,000 PCR test kits, valued at around $10m, in addition to aiding in the transport of two field hospitals from Norway and Belgium to Ghana and Ethiopia at a cost of $4m. Additionally, the UAE has established field hospitals in Jordan, Guinea Conakry, Sudan, Mauritania, Lebanon and Sierra Leone to aid in their fight against Covid-19.

As for the UAE’s support for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), it pledged to provide around $100m during a donors’ conference in Senegal in 2018, the amount of which was paid out over three phases from 2018 to 2020, supporting education in 90 countries.

In July 2021, the UAE also pledged to provide the same amount to support a strategic global partnership plan for education over the next five years.

On the eve of the World Humanitarian Day earlier this month, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said that the UAE will grant golden residency visas to humanitarian workers in a decision made to encourage more people to get involved in humanitarian work.

Read: UAE to grant golden residency visas to humanitarian workers – Sheikh Mohammed