A top official at the World Food Programme (>WFP) recently revealed that the UAE is the fifth-largest donor to the organization with contributions totaling $270 million in 2019.
The Gulf state came in after the U.S., UK, EU and Germany and is now also the top regional voluntary contributor to WFP, having sent in huge donations over the past few years.
Mageed Yahia, WFP director in the UAE, said the country's biggest contribution to the humanitarian institution is its "hosting" efforts during the past 15 years.
"The UAE is contributing efficiently to our operations in Yemen, Bangladesh for Rohingya refugees and our school programmes in Cuba," Yahia, said.
"We are proud of this partnership and working together to move forward to strengthen it," he added.
Yahia's remarks came after he took part in a high-level roundtable discussion convened by the WFP at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Abu Dhabi.
The discussions held in Abu Dhabi were centered on the link between climate change and food security "with special emphasis on the situation in the Horn of Africa."
WFP regional director for East Africa, Erika Joergensen, also took part in the event which was moderated by Jamal Al Suwaidi, the director-general of Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research.
The UAE is a huge supporter of WFP initiatives and the organization often holds meetings in the country.
The UAE has built a reputation as one of the most generous countries in the world
The UAE is no stranger to lending a helping hand and providing assistance to >humanitarian organizations within the UAE and abroad.
In 2016, the UAE was named one of the world's top 10 generous nations. That same year, the UAE's President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan announced that 2017 would be dubbed the ">Year of Giving," to promote a culture of giving back to the community and volunteering, and it paid off. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) >ranked the UAE as the world's largest donor of official development aid, relative to its national income, in 2017.
The "Year of Giving" saw the UAE host thousands of events including the "Reaching the Last Mile" forum, which was dedicated to eradicating diseases such as malaria and polio. Held in Abu Dhabi, the event saw the announcement of a $100 million fund with the goal of wiping out many of the world's deadliest diseases. At the time, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed paid forward $20 million to the cause.
Emirati officials have also made fair donations to countries hit by natural disasters. In 2003, Dubai's Ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum established the country's >International Humanitarian City (IHC) which is considered the world's largest logistical center for aid.
The organization has played a pivotal role in aid responses to crisis-hit areas including Gaza, Haiti, Sudan, and several others.