The UAE is one of the strongest partners to UN, says Ban Ki-moon

DUBAI, 10th February, 2015 (WAM) - The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, yesterday said that the UAE has demonstrated its strong commitment to the UN through its humanitarian and peace keeping missions in the region. Speaking to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, on the sidelines of the Government Summit in Dubai, the Secretary-General said, "The United Arab Emirates is one of the strongest partner countries, and an essential member of the United Nations. The UAE may be a small country but it has a big heart." Ban Ki-moon also expressed his appreciation for UAE’s efforts in terms of regional peace and security, saying that as a GCC member, the UAE has been playing a very crucial role in responding to the region’s pressing issues. "The UAE has been playing a very important role in Yemen and Afghanistan. It has also been helping the UN a lot with its community peace missions in Somalia, other parts of Africa and the Middle East," he said. He commended the UAE’s substantial humanitarian aid efforts, and spoke about his visit to the International Humanitarian City (IHC) in Dubai, which is strategically located near Al Maktoum International Airport. It is a large-scale logistical hub for humanitarian aid response, where millions of aid supplies are acquired, stored in warehouses, and prepared for quick dispatch and delivery to crisis-stricken areas in places like Syria, Iraq, and Africa. "During my visit to the International Humanitarian City a couple of years ago, I was very much impressed. They were providing and sending necessary humanitarian aid to Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere at a very short notice. All these demonstrate how best the UAE contributes to UN's work," he added. "When it comes to the development, the United Arab Emirates is, I think, ranked number one country in the world in providing official development assistance in terms of its GDP proportion. The development aid constitutes 1.45 % of the UAE's GDP. We are very much grateful," he said. Speaking about the Government Summit 2015, Mr Ban said it is "very timely" in terms of enhancing good governance. "We need accountable governments and honest leaders." "This is what the people really want, that leaders of their countries are people-centred, care about their people, transparent, effective and accountable. I really highly commend this initiative," he added. The Secretary-General went on to say that the UAE is a role model country and hoped that many countries in the world will emulate what the UAE has been doing and continuing to do. "The UAE has been really supportive of Syrian refugees, the people in Gaza, and elsewhere. Their warm and very generous support really saved lives and helped a lot of people," he said. Speaking about the challenges that the world and the region face from religious fundamentalism and violent extremism, the Secretary-General expressed his concerns, and said that more collaborative effort must be made to combat intolerance and the responsibility lies in the hands of both leaders and individuals. "I am extremely concerned about the spread of hatred and violence discourse throughout the world, citing the brutal crimes being committed by ISIL (Daesh). It is totally unacceptable," he stressed. "The United Nations and the international community should be united and show their solidarity to defeat terrorism and violent extremism. The international community has been taking some collective actions through military means, but at the same time, we should look at the root causes of these issues and why these young people have been influenced by all the hatred rhetoric being spread by ISIL (Daesh)," he added. Mr Ban noted that it is imperative to think about how to address and enhance tolerance and mutual understanding of other people’s beliefs, faiths and traditions. One way of doing this, he said, "is for government leaderships to pay more attention to the aspirations of their people, particularly the youth." "Young people should not be marginalised and all groups of people should be included in society. It is very important not to leave anybody behind or anybody isolated or discriminated against as these people may easily fall into traps of this kind of extremism," he explained. "While through the UN, we are trying to provide capacity building for those people who are suffering from terrorist attacks through our UN global strategy against terrorism and counter-terrorism centre. At the same time, we are reaching out to member states to help them enhance the levels of tolerance and mutual respect through initiatives such as Saudi Arabia’s interfaith dialogue," he added. The UN Secretary-General went on to explain, "We need to educate people so that they will have a better understanding of values of humanity and respect for the faith, beliefs and traditions of others, from a young age," he said. "That is very important," he stressed. Mr Ban said that people should be given decent socio-economic opportunities by their schools and communities, which, he said, would require a wise investment in education, and responsible leadership from the community, educational, political and particularly religious leaders. "In the Arab world, the imams play a very important role and that is why we are reaching out to those leaderships," he concluded. – Emirates News Agency, WAM – http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395276282296.html http://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395276289320.html