Ambassador of the UAE to Pakistan Eissa Al Basha Al Nuaimi and Director of the UAE Pakistan Assistance Programme (UAE PAP) Abdullah Khalifa Al Ghafli on Saturday attended the third meeting of multi-lateral and bilateral development partners, a donor conference for the rehabilitation of the flood affected people and Temporarily Displaced Persons (TDPs).
Ambassadors from 26 donor countries along with representatives from international organisations attended the meeting, which was opened and chaired by Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
In a speech at the meeting, Al Basha emphasised that UAE and Pakistan maintain historical and strong fraternal relations that reflect their leaders’ efforts in serving the common interests of the two countries. He noted that since the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan established relations with Pakistan, relations between the two countries have progressed well to the highest levels.
The UAE PAP, launched on January 12, 2011, in collaboration with relevant authorities from Pakistani, was the first to implement infrastructure and social care projects in Pakistan’s flood-damaged regions, Al Basha informed. He further noted that these projects include healthcare and education facilities, along with water facilities, roads and bridges.
He said that in line with the directives of President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, following the natural disasters that struck Pakistan, the UAE launched the UAE PAP as a comprehensive long-term development plan for Pakistan’s northwestern region.
The UAE ambassador noted that the UAE PAP has implemented 156 humanitarian and development projects in the past four years. Their total value rests at $315 million.
The efforts include polio vaccination of more than 13.2 million children in Pakistan, between June and September 2014.During UAE’s four-month effort to combat the deadly infectious disease, 13,238,701 Pakistani children were vaccinated, of whom 10,235,995 were in 25 areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 3,447,706 belong to the tribal regions.
The campaign was an initiative of General Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of UAE Armed Forces, in accordance with directives from Sheikh Khalifa.
On April 24, 2013, one day ahead of the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi, General Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed pledged a donation of Dhs440 million ($120 million) to support global efforts to eradicate polio by 2018.
