UAE Foreign Aid Policy to Include Women Empowerment

Women as agents of change and brokers of peace – this will be reflected in the UAE overall foreign aid policy, currently under preparation, said the UAE Minister of International Cooperation and Development. The following article has been originally published on gulfnews.com.

Women should not be seen only as victims and receivers of aid in conflicts and natural disasters, said Princess Haya Bint Hussain, wife of Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.

She said women can play a key role in humanitarian work and national development.

Her comments came on Tuesday during the opening of the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid & Development Conference & Exhibition (DIHAD).

The annual event is this year focusing on women and aid, and how conflicts and disasters affect them in gender-specific ways.

Princess Haya is the UN Messenger of Peace and chairperson of the International Humanitarian City, Dubai.

Also speaking at DIHAD, Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi, UAE Minister of International Cooperation and Development, said “it is critically important that we see women not just as recipients of assistance” but “as agents of change, as brokers of peace, and as deliverers of assistance.”

Shaikha Lubna added that in terms of humanitarian help, women have “different and sometimes unique needs, and sometimes markedly different perspectives on how to go about meeting those needs.”

That would be reflected in the UAE’s overall foreign aid policy which is currently under preparation, she added.

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Photo by Dihad: 10th Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition (DIHAD) 2013.