Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ABUDHABI4218
2004-11-23 12:08:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Abu Dhabi
Cable title:  

UAE HUMANITARIAN AID FURTHERS FOREIGN POLICY

Tags:  EAID EFIN PTER TC 
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Diana T Fritz 02/05/2007 04:02:10 PM From DB/Inbox: Search Results

Cable 
Text: 
 
 
UNCLAS ABU DHABI 04218

SIPDIS
CXABU:
 ACTION: AMB
 INFO: MEPI ECON POL DCM

DISSEMINATION: AMB
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AMB:MSISON
DRAFTED: POL:SOSTROV
CLEARED: DCM:RALBRIGHT, ECON:OJOHN, POL:JMAYBURY, CG:JDAVIS

VZCZCADI655
RR RUEHC RUEHEE RUEHDE RUEATRS RHEHNSC
DE RUEHAD #4218/01 3281208
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231208Z NOV 04
FM AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6898
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 4523
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004218 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID EFIN PTER TC
SUBJECT: UAE HUMANITARIAN AID FURTHERS FOREIGN POLICY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABU DHABI 004218

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID EFIN PTER TC
SUBJECT: UAE HUMANITARIAN AID FURTHERS FOREIGN POLICY


1. (SBU) Summary: The United Arab Emirates is a major
international aid donor, with the annual average of
humanitarian aid in the form of development loans, grants,
and in-kind charitable donations reaching more than 3.5
percent of its gross domestic product. Organizations such as
the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD),Red Crescent
Authority (RCA),and Mohammed bin Rashid (MbR) Charitable and
Humanitarian Foundation represent the top three aid
organizations. The UAE,s humanitarian aid and foreign
policy priorities are inextricably linked, with Iraq,
Afghanistan, and the Palestinians receiving the lion,s share
of aid. The UAE regulates and monitors charities to ensure
that funds are not diverted to finance terrorism. End
Summary

AID AS A TOOL FOR PROMOTING REGIONAL STABILITY
-------------- -


2. (SBU) UAE humanitarian aid priorities are grounded in
both foreign policy and humanitarian considerations. By
providing aid to Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Palestinians,
UAE-based charitable organizations, at the direction of the
rulers, have sought to promote regional stability. By way of
illustration, the three listed organizations provided the
following aid in grants and loans in 2003 to Iraq,
Afghanistan, and the Palestinians (Note: These figures do not
account for in-kind assistance. End note.):


- Iraq
-- Red Crescent (USD 39.24 million)
-- MbR Charity (USD 13.62 million)
-- ADFD (No aid for 2003)
- Afghanistan
-- Red Crescent (USD 8.80 million)
-- MbR Charity (In-kind; value not available)
-- ADFD (USD 8.17 million)
- Palestine
-- Red Crescent (USD 97.73 million)
-- MbR Charity (USD 51.22 million)
-- ADFD (USD 63.85 million)


3. (SBU) In addition, there are examples of purely
humanitarian responses. Iran, which the UAE considers a
threat to its own security, received rescue vehicles,
personnel and equipment, tents, clothing, blankets, toys,
food and other in-kind assistance worth USD 650K to assist
victims of the Bam earthquake in December 2003 from both the
MbR Charity and the Red Crescent combined. In August, MbR,s
charity began flying planeloads of supplies to Darfur in
Sudan to relieve suffering there.

NOT REALLY NGOS
--------------


4. (SBU) UAE charitable organizations insist they are

strictly non-governmental agencies but, in actual fact, they
are not. Senior ruling family members provide the bulk of
funds to these organizations, and also sit on the boards.
For example, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the
President of UAE Red Crescent Authority. Executive board
members of these organizations include other members of the
ruling family of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and government
leaders. In Dubai, an organization named after the Crown
Prince and the de facto ruler, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum (MbR) Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation,
undertakes charitable and humanitarian works with the sole
stated objective of helping the poor, the suffering
(particularly in conflict zones),and widows. Ministry of
Finance Assistant Undersecretary for Revenue and Budget,
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, told Poloff that the federal
government pays for the salaries of workers in the Red
Crescent Authority, confirming that that particular
organization is quasi-governmental.


5. (SBU) Although humanitarian aid is funneled through
charities, the UAE federal government is very involved in
their priority setting. As a result, aid reflects the
foreign policy priorities of the UAE,s rulers, who are
motivated by their desire to help fellow Islamic countries
and respond to the UAE domestic constituencies. The Ministry
of Foreign Affairs monitors and approves all charitable
projects outside the UAE that are supported by any
organization within the UAE. The charitable organizations
consult with UAE leaders on the amount and type of aid.
There are few codified procedures on how the different
projects are approved or chosen for assistance. Rather, the
charities communicate various requests directly to the UAE
leadership and the leadership decides the priorities through
traditional consultative mechanisms such as the open majlis,
or council.


ANTI TERRORIST FINANCING EFFORTS
--------------


6. (SBU) The UAEG has also taken steps to try and ensure that
charitable funds are not diverted to terrorist purposes. The
Ministry of Labor regulates charities and charitable
organizations in the UAE and requires charities to keep
records of donations and beneficiaries. In 2002, the UAEG
mandated that all licensed charities interested in
transferring funds overseas must do so via one of three
government approved charities including the Red Crescent, the
Zayed Charitable Foundation, and MBR's charity. They are in
a position to ensure that overseas transfers go to legitimate
parties. One charitable organization dedicated to helping
the Palestinians told econchief that it appreciated working
through the Red Crescent, because it could be sure that the
funds were going to the right people and not/not disappearing
into someone's bank account. The UAEG has also contacted
governments in numerous aid receiving countries to compile a
list of recognized, acceptable recipients for UAE charitable
assistance. Although the UAEG regulates charities, we have
heard that enforcement of these regulations may be haphazard.
We continue to follow-up with the UAEG on this issue.

DECADES OF DEVOTION AND ALTRUISM
--------------


7. (SBU) Despite significant and often direct influence from
the federal and emirates level governments, the charitable
organizations remain altruistic in their work. The Red
Crescent Authority,s goal is to get &on the ground8 with
needed aid, regardless of the political situation, though its
General Secretary, Sana Darweesh Kitbi, admits that aid
indirectly helps UAE foreign policies. While ruling family
members donate significant amounts of personal wealth, it is
not considered a &government donation8, although individual
donors can designate a specific project to support. The Red
Crescent assists by checking the background of donors and the
viability of each project. The Red Crescent projects are
divided into local affairs and foreign affairs projects, and
the organization has always been successful in responding to
the urgent needs of victims around the world, said Kitbi.


8. (U) UAE President Sheikh Zayed founded ADFD in 1971 to
extend aid to developing countries and offer financial aid
from the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to various countries to help
them develop their local economies, achieve sustainable
development, and improve the living standards of their
people. The ADFD is a traditional development aid agency,
however, sometimes it also channels aid that is more
humanitarian in nature, building new housing in the Gaza
strip for example. In 2003, Arab countries received 73% of
the gross value of financial commitments by ADFD, while
sub-Saharan African countries received 5.8%, Asian countries
received 19.5% and other countries received 1.7%. In 2003,
the ADFD provided 13 loans amounting to USD673 million.
Infrastructure projects received the lion,s share of the
loans and grants, with emphasis on projects that directly
impact roads, seaports, airports, water, electricity,
communications, agriculture, and housing.

COMMENT:
--------------

9. (SBU) We anticipate that the UAEG will continue to use
various charitable organizations it controls to funnel its
humanitarian aid, and that the principal recipients will
continue to be Muslim populations and countries.

SISON