UAE donates US$1m relief items to support Ghana’s June 29 flood victims

The Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has donated relief items valued at US$1 million to the Government of Ghana to support communities affected by the devastating floods of June 29. The donation, made through UAE AID, included essential food and household supplies such as cooking oil, sardines, spaghetti, rice, beans, gari, sachet water, mattresses, and blankets. Welcoming the UAE delegation, the Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability, Seidu Issifu, expressed profound appreciation on behalf of the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, and the people of Ghana for the generous humanitarian assistance.

He said the UAE’s swift response demonstrated the longstanding friendship, solidarity, and cooperation between Ghana and the UAE. According to him, the timely assistance would provide much-needed relief to communities affected by the floods, while further strengthening the longstanding bilateral relations between the two countries. Presenting the relief items, the Executive Director for Operations of UAE AID, Rashid Al Shamsi, said the UAE considered Ghana a home and remained committed to supporting the country during difficult times.

“We believe in shared responsibility, and at this time, we want to share that responsibility by supporting the Government of Ghana,” he said. Receiving the items on behalf of the government, the Deputy Minister for the Interior, Ebenezer Okletey Terlabi, commended the government and people of the UAE for the gesture. He also acknowledged the role of the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) in coordinating the national disaster response.

Mr Terlabi emphasised that effective disaster prevention, preparedness, and response required collective action from the government, communities, individuals, institutions, development partners, and other stakeholders. The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, also expressed appreciation to the government and people of the UAE, describing the donation as a further demonstration of the strong and enduring relations between Ghana and the UAE. The ceremony was attended by senior officials from the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NADMO, and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, among other stakeholders.

The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) says its current relief stock is sufficient to support more than 91,000 people displaced by the June 29 floods. NADMO Director-General, Dr Joseph Bikanyi Kuyon, made the disclosure after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) presented relief items worth $1 million to the Government of Ghana on Monday, August 10. The donation, made through the UAE Office of the Minister of State for Climate Change and Sustainability in partnership with NADMO, is intended to support communities affected by the floods.

The relief package includes 5,000 student mattresses, bags of rice and cooking oil. Receiving the items at the NADMO Head Office, Dr Kuyon said the UAE’s intervention had significantly strengthened the organisation’s capacity to respond to the needs of affected communities. “The United Arab Emirates came in as a government to support Ghana as a nation and that is why the relief support is so huge in that margin.