Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of International Cooperation and Development (MICAD) and Head of the UAE Committee for the Coordination of Humanitarian Foreign Aid, has said President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan spares no efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the victims of crises and disasters as his humanitarian philosophy is driving the global humanitarian action and reflecting the UAE's humanitarian approach and outstanding stature as the world's largest donor of development assistance in proportion to its gross national income (GNI).
Sheikha Lubna was commenting on H.H. Sheikh Khalifa's directives on the immediate start of an airbridge to send urgent relief shipments of blankets, winter clothes and food supplies to help hundreds of thousands of refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, in addition to those affected in Gaza and other Palestinian regions to help them survive the harsh winter, with temperatures dropping below zero as the entire Levant prepares for a powerful snowstorm that will bring heavy rain, hail and snow over the coming days.
She said the airbridge represents the continuing tradition of the UAE's generous giving that is expanding globally to help hundreds of thousands of people reeling under man-made and natural disasters and are in dire need of care and affection in times of crisis.
"The humanitarian vision and foresight of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his directives to deal preemptively with the powerful snowstorm reflects his early understanding of the crisis as well as his deep desire to spare our brothers in the Levant from the tragic onslaught of harsh weather," she added.
Sheikha Lubna added that H.H. Sheikh Khalifa's invitation to all organisations and national bodies and residents in the UAE to participate in this nationwide campaign further consolidates the values of humane cohesion and fraternity between Emiratis and expatriates as well as the UAE's humanitarian global stature.