The UAE today launched a humanitarian logistics databank at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai. Announced by HRH Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, Chairperson of the International Humanitarian City, the databank will improve the speed and efficiency of humanitarian aid and emergency response via centralized platform of real-time information on emergencies, supplies and logistics.
Expected to enhance collaboration between aid agencies in the region, the databank is designed to best serve those in need. The UAE has been at the forefront of relief efforts for Rohingya refugees and has been lauded by representatives of global agencies, including the World Food Programme’s Executive Director David Beasley, who spoke at the launch, for its philanthropic responses to the most urgent humanitarian crises globally.
Sessions on climate change, biotechnology and space settlement dominated day one of the WGS that also featured Hollywood actors Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker. De Niro joined ministers of the UAE and island nations Antigua and Barbuda and the Republic of Marshall Islands to discuss the devastating effects of extreme weather. The double Oscar winner has pledged to help rebuild Barbuda after it was left uninhabitable for the first time in 300 years following Hurricane Irma. Fellow Academy-award winner Whitaker, representing UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, emphasized empowering women and children, who are the most vulnerable to climate change impact, as critical change agents.
