UAE world's 20th most generous donor

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked 20th among the world's most generous donors, when the country's development assistance is measured according to its Gross National Income (GNI) and 2nd among countries that are not members of the OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in 2011, according to the data published by the committee in January 2013.

By this measure, the UAE is ranked above some of the world's most prominent donor countries, including the United States, Italy and Japan. Sweden tops the list as the world's most generous donor, followed by Norway, Luxemburg, and Denmark respectively.

The UAE is considered the only Arab country documenting its foreign aid records to the DAC/OECD since 2009, according to the standards applied by the committee. This documentation allows the DAC to rank the UAE between the DAC and non-DAC donors who document their Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Western Region and President of UAE Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid (OCFA), said: "This achievement is testimony to the generous policies of the country's President, President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Gen. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, as well as to the compassionate spirit of the people of the UAE, and the UAE donor organizations who provide development assistance ranging from educational and health projects, to infrastructure and bridges to developing countries to assist them in having better quality life."

The UAE stepped 6 ranks up from being on rank 26 in 2010 to rank 20 in 2011, as well as providing 0.22 per cent in development aid when measured to its GNI. The UAE has achieved a net ODA disbursement of

Dh2.7 billion ($737 million) documented by the DAC and provided to the DAC eligible countries. According to OCFA, the total amount of the development aid amounted to Dh6.68m of the total UAE foreign aid given in 2011 which is Dh7.74m.

The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in 1970 urging donor countries to contribute at least 0.7 per cent of their GNI to developing countries. This measurement is now internationally accepted as the means for comparing levels of ODA provided by different countries.

Since its establishment, OCFA has been documenting the UAE's development aid with the DAC/OECD using the DAC's Creditor Reporting System (CRS), after gathering and analysing the data from UAE donor organizations, and processing the data through quality control by an external agency.

Documenting the data allows the DAC to rank the UAE among donor countries and enhance competitiveness. The DAC list has 23 donor countries including USA, Canada, most of the countries in Western Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, and the European Commission.

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