(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) As the UAE lives the Year of Giving, the world has acknowledged the country's contribution towards humanitarian development assistance.
According to the latest report released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the UAE is the biggest donor in the world - relative to national income - for the year 2016.
Moreover, it is for the fourth consecutive year that the UAE has attained this position of becoming one of the largest international donors.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Tuesday announced the OECD report via his Twitter account, attributing results to UAE leadership.
"The announcement came as we live the Year of Giving, it came out as our people plan new humanitarian initiatives every day. The UAE does not provide conditional aid and does not wait for any returns. We only want the good and stability of all people."
Sheikh Mohammed said that UAE leaders were the main drive behind the country's top ranking in humanitarian aid.
"Our government is determined to establish, institutionalise and sustain this value in our upcoming generations," Sheikh Mohammed added.
The OECD report revealed that among the several non-development assistance committee (DAC) members who report their aid flows, the UAE posted the highest official development assistance (ODA) of about Dh15.23 billion in 2016, representing 1.12 per cent of its gross national income (GNI). More than 54 per cent of its aid was made in the form of grants.
The OECD report stated that the country's contributions to international assistance rose as compared to 2015.
Norway was ranked second with 1.11 per cent, followed by Luxemburg in third place with one per cent, followed by Sweden with 0.94 per cent.
The UAE topped the list in 2016 for the third time after making it to the top in 2013 and 2014.
Aid in numbers
The officials said the aid pushed forward the UAE's humanitarian mission of the past two years in aid to the African continent, nearly 54 per cent of the UAE's assistance, amounting to Dh8.95 billion.
Given the humanitarian situation in Yemen and the Syrian refugee crisis, the value of humanitarian aid increased by 0.87 per cent to reach Dh1.89 billion compared to 2015.
Despite the increase in regional humanitarian aid, the UAE continued to support various humanitarian issues, cope with events and crises, and allocate funding to support.
The development aid reached a new peak of $142.6 billion in 2016, an increase of 8.9 per cent from 2015, partly driven by a 27.5 per cent increase in spending on refugees.
Overall, the total humanitarian assistance rose in 22 countries in 2016, with the biggest increases in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Spain.
For some, the increases were due to higher refugee costs. The ODA fell in seven countries, with the largest declines seen in Australia, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden.
The United States remained the world's biggest donor overall, spending $33.6 billion on overseas assistance, ahead of Germany with $24.7 billion and Britain with $18 billion.
The aid committee said the data were preliminary and that there would be another announcement after the completion of the detailed ODA data from the members of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia countries, which is expected to be announced in December this year.
How UAE made it to global list
The OECD report revealed that among the several non-development assistance committee (DAC) members who report their aid flows, the UAE posted the highest official development assistance (ODA) of about Dh15.23 billion in 2016, representing 1.12 per cent of its Gross National Income (GNI). More than 54 per cent of its aid was made in form of grants.
The OECD report stated that the country's contributions to international assistance rose as compared to 2015.
Norway was ranked second with 1.11 per cent, followed by Luxemburg in third place with 1 per cent, followed by Sweden with 0.94 per cent.
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