Is International Humanitarian City up and running now?
IHC has been operating for a couple of years, but our current offices are set to be demolished after which we will move to Jebel Ali. A big project is under construction there with a huge warehouse capacity. It should be complete next year. Dubai government is also constructing a building there big enough to host the entire UN family.
What is IHC’s relationship with the UN?
IHC has provided enormous facilities to the UN, enabling it to respond to emergencies in many parts of the ME and Asia more efficiently. The UAE provides an incredible base in terms of facilities and location.
Is it true that the UAE could soon become the biggest operational base for the United Nations worldwide?
The UN’s major operational agencies are taking advantage of the opportunities the UAE offers. That is all I can say.
What is the IHC’s top aim?
It should be providing opportunities for international communities to respond better to emergencies.
Is it easy enough for international charities to operate in the UAE? Or is there a great deal of bureaucracy and red tape?
There are issues in IHC, such as the physical infrastructure, software issues, problems with customs, visas, and bureaucracy. These all have to be resolved, but we are already moving in the right direction. Once people gain more knowledge and experience of how the international humanitarian system works, things will become a lot easier.
Does a lot of anonymous charity work take place in the UAE?
The Gulf countries are among the biggest givers to charity. The problem is that very little is known about it, largely because of the Islamic philosophy that ‘when you give with one hand the other should not know it.’ People do not want to make a noise about their charitable acts. However, things would operate a lot more efficiently if we made sure benefactors were known – otherwise we have assistance coming from different directions, overlapping and getting unevenly distributed. This is my challenge – to encourage our partners within the government, Red Crescent and other societies to make sure help is internationally recorded.
How is the UAE going to assist in the global fight against increased food shortages?
The UAE has been contributing a lot of help to the Palestinians and others. That said, there is still a need for the governments of this region to look into the food shortage situation more seriously. They are already giving a lot of assistance but are doing it bilaterally, so little is know about it. Last week the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) visited four countries of the region and raised the issue of food prices with every official they met.
Are people in this region suffering from the food shortage?
I wouldn’t say suffering – that is too strong a word. But it is having an impact. I’m sure people on low incomes here will be affected by the increased price of food commodities, but it is not the same as people suffering in Afghanistan.
What else do you hope to achieve in this region?
We want countries of this region not only to donate through multilateral channels, but also to participate in discussions on humanitarian policies We appreciate all the resources in this region but we also want to take advantage of its knowledge.
For more, see www.ihc.ae.
