The Emirates Red Crescent has deployed a total of 5,000 food parcels amongst various segments of society as part of its contributions to the ‘Fund of the UAE- Homeland of Humanity’.
The move comes as part of the National Food Security Strategy, which aims to provide food for orphans, people of determination, the elderly, people with chronic disease, indigent families and low-income segments of society.
The assistance has been deployed at the country level by the ERC teams and their voluntary cadres, who’ve delivered the food to the beneficiaries in their places of residence while adhering to the precautionary and preventive measures taken nationwide to avoid mixing, overcrowding and gatherings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the development, Dr. Mohammed Ateeq Al Falahi, ERC Secretary-General, has underlined the determination of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region, Chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent, to further widen the role played by the Emirates Red Crescent across the local scene under these trying times.
“H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan is following with great interest the plans and programmes prepared by the ERC to support the efforts aimed to bring the coronavirus under control, and to create convenient conditions for families and various segments of society to stay home and protect themselves from the consequences of the pandemic,” he added.
“The ERC is collaborating with its partners at the ‘Fund of the UAE- Homeland of Humanity’, primarily the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, to strengthen the contributions of the Fund and to get additional donors and contributors to chip in its health, educational, logistics and food programmes. The ERC is also coordinating with other Emirati charity and humanitarian organisations to widen the base of the Fund’s beneficiaries.”
He added that each of the distributed food parcels contains a sufficient amount of food to meet one month-long needs of every family benefiting from the assistance, noting that the ERC will continue to distribute the food assistance to meet the requirements of the targeted groups.
“The ERC is keen to ensure supply chain diversification amongst local suppliers, vendors and merchants to vitalise the domestic market and mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus,” he noted.
The distributed parcels include 26 key stables, such as rice, wheat, sugar, milk, oils, legumes, canned food, pasta, noodles, lentils, chickpeas, juice, cheese, and tea, along with a number of other substances.
