US embassy cable - 04ABUDHABI4218

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