Abu Dhabi: The UAE will launch an initiative to bring joy during the upcoming Eid Al Adha to members of families of the Yemeni martyrs and injured people, a senior official said on Wednesday.
“Eid gifts, clothes, sacrificial meat, and cash and gift vouchers will be distributed to families of the Yemeni martyrs and the injured, as part of the UAE’s initiatives to bring joy to the Yemeni people,” Dr Mohammad Atiq Al Falahi, secretary-general of the Emirates Red Crescent, told a news conference.
Dr Al Falahi said the initiative of the late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s Counsel on the People of Yemen will start on August 20 and last until the third Eid Al Adha day.
He added the move is akin to the UAE’s sons responding to the higher counsel Shaikh Zayed instilled in them, and in the collective mindset of his country.
“The relationship between the UAE and Yemen is one of history and destiny. It is an ideal model of how relations between brothers within one family should be,” Shaikh Zayed told the Yemeni people during a visit to Yemen in 1972.
Dr Al Falahi said the UAE offered Dh7.53 billion in foreign aid to Yemen from April 2015 to June 2017 as part of its humanitarian and development aid to support the Yemeni people and its ongoing efforts to lay down the foundations for development, security, stability and peace in Yemen.
Dr Mohammad Al Falahi announced that Shaikh Zayed’s initiative of Counsel on the People of Yemen will start on August 20 and continue till the third day of Eid Al Adha. Ahmed Kutty/Gulf News
“Of the UAE’s aid, Dh1.5 billion was provided by the Red Crescent,” he said.
Dr Al Falahi stressed the massive foreign aid came as part of the UAE’s humanitarian and developmental response to the current crisis in Yemen and help it to overcome this situation, support its stability, and preserve its territorial integrity and unity.
Battle against cholera
The Emirates Red Crescent has also joined the battle against the deadly cholera outbreak sweeping Yemen.
The charity, in coordination with the World Health Organisation, has provided Dh33 million to vaccinate as many patients as possible, with 2,000 new cases reported each day.
Aid funds have been spent on health programmes, buying equipment and medicines for hospitals, and feeding and clothing the population.
Dr Al Falahi said health, social and humanitarian programmes have been launched to cater to the basic needs of Yemenis.
About three million people will benefit from UAE’s drive to prevent the epidemic.
Last month, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced the UAE’s donation of $10 million to WHO to support its efforts in combating cholera in Yemen, during a meeting with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of World Health Organisation (WHO) in Marmoum, on August 10.
Shaikh Mohammad affirmed the UAE Government’s commitment to continue developing health-care services by establishing world-class health-care facilities, providing specialised medical services, attracting best talents and producing high-quality cadres from local educational institutes.
Food aid
The Emirates Red Crescent is also distributing emergency food aid to underprivileged families across Yemen.
“The Emirates Red Crescent is keen to deliver aid to beneficiaries throughout the region to help alleviate their suffering and meet their basic food needs,” Dr Al Falahi said.
The relief is part of the ongoing operations in the country aimed at improving the lives of Yemenis living in harsh conditions, he added
The Emirates Red Crescent Authority has signed an agreement to rehabilitate the community health centre in Al Dais Al Sharqiyah (Eastern Dais) district of the Yemeni city of Al Mukalla.
