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Abu Dhabi / WAM
HH Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women’s Union (GWU), President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood, and Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation, FDF, who is also the Honorary President of the Emirates Red Crescent, ERC, has provided additional support of $1 million to the Fund for Refugee Women.
The donation is part of Sheikha Fatima’s charitable and humanitarian efforts to ease the suffering of underprivileged persons around the world, especially women and children.
Sheikha Fatima praised the role of the UAE leadership and President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as well as the support of the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and the monitoring of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the ERC.
She also praised the efforts to stabilise the lives of refugees, by providing for their basic needs and helping them overcome their challenges, while stressing that supporting refugees is an ongoing part of the UAE’s humanitarian directives, and the country has taken the responsibility to evaluate their needs and provide them with a variety of urgent and essential aid.
Sheikha Fatima added that the suffering of refugees, which is caused by their extreme conditions, requires further partnerships between humanitarian organisations to improve their lives and highlight their urgent problems, while noting that the aid provided by the UAE to refugees sends a message that reflects the values of giving, compassion and brotherhood between communities, whose foundations were established by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
She also said that she hopes the fund will provide additional assistance to women refugees throughout the world, and expressed her appreciation for the role of the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, in caring and protecting millions of refugees in many countries.
As part of this framework, she endorsed the signing of an agreement between the ERC and the UNHCR, to implement a project to assist Southern Sudan Refugees so that they can establish themselves in Uganda, which will cost $1 million in the form of a grant from the fund.
Sheikha Fatima highlighted the importance of such types of projects to empowering refugees economically and encouraging them to work, develop and benefit from their skills, as well as enabling them to continue living with determination.
According to the agreement, which was signed on Sunday at the headquarters of the ERC, the project will provide opportunities for refugees from Southern Sudan to work productively in agricultural and livestock programmes. The project is expected to benefit 41,660 refugees, with 60 percent of them being women.
The agreement was signed by Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, Secretary-General of the ERC, and Khalid Khalifa, Regional Representative of the UNHCR in the GCC.
Dr. Maitha bint Salem Al Shamsi, Minister of State, said that the fund was established through the generous initiative of Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, to ease the suffering of female refugees and provide them with the means of a decent life, while adding that starting the project will support her efforts to empower women economically and socially, and will help improve their living conditions.
Al Shamsi stressed that Sheikha Fatima’s initiatives to support refugees have made her one of their leading donors and supporters.
Dr. Al Falahi praised the humanitarian efforts of Sheikha Fatima and added that she is a symbol of unlimited human giving, not only in the UAE but also in the region and around the world.
He noted that the ERC, under the leadership of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, has prioritised development projects that aim to benefit victims of conflicts and disasters, which he considers a fundamental solution to fulfilling their growing humanitarian needs.
“We are confident that this agreement will coordinate the efforts of the ERC and the UNHCR and make them more efficient, to reduce the suffering of refugees from Southern Sudan in Uganda,” Khalifa said.