The UAE has always accorded the virtues of compassion and generosity a priority status in its book of national guiding principles. This was reaffirmed in June this year when His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the UAE Initiative for Connection with Orphans and Minors. The initiative formalised a national approach to one of the most crucial areas of development in society — inclusion of orphans into the mainstream by offering them equal opportunities and resources in order for them to become effective contributors to society.
This dimension is further strengthened by the fact that the UAE not only addresses this critical issue at home, it also reaches out to orphans elsewhere in the world. The country sponsors more than 200,000 orphans globally — accounting for three per cent of the total number of orphans receiving sponsorship worldwide.
A society’s all-round success is entirely predicated on its ability to include the disadvantaged with the same fervour as their advantaged peers. Providing orphan children the opportunities and resources that will draw them into the mainstream and make place for them as influencers and thinkers for tomorrow is an important layer in a national bedrock.
The UAE, with its national and international initiatives for orphans, is proving that it has earned its top-ranking status in the world as a humanitarian role-model owing to its clear vision and compassion-driven objectives.
