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Princess Haya receives Gigliod’Oro Award

By JT - Nov 07,2015 - Last updated at Nov 07,2015

HRH Princess Haya receives the 2015 Gigliod’Oro Award for her outstanding contributions in the humanitarian field at a ceremony held in Florence on Friday (Photo courtesy of Dubai government media office)

AMMAN — HRHPrincess Haya on Friday received the 2015 Gigliod’Oro Award for her outstanding contributions in the humanitarian field at a ceremony held in Florence, Italy. 

The Gigliod’Oro is awarded annually by the Italy-based Galileo 2000 Foundation to individuals who make significant contributions to peace, music and art, according to a Dubai government media office statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Saturday. 

In her acceptance speech, Princess Haya paid tribute to her husband, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.

“The recipient should have been my husband, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed — without his loving support and generosity, I would not have been able to do nearly so much,” the statement quoted the princess as saying.

“I am deeply honoured by this recognition of my humanitarian work I do on behalf of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and the United Nations. I will treasure this award, not as a reminder of all that has been done, but as a reminder of all there is still to do,” she added.

Princess Haya has been widely recognised for her contributions to global humanitarian causes, the statement said. She is a UN Messenger of Peace, chairwoman of the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, and a former World Food Programme (WFP) Ambassador Against Hunger.

Dubai and the UAE, she said, are at the forefront of the global humanitarian effort. 

“Few people know this, but the UAE has moved into the number one position among the world’s donors, giving 1.2 per cent of GNI every year to foreign aid in more than 100 countries — nearly $5 billion from a country of only 8 million people,” she said in her speech.

The princess highlighted the recently established Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, which will launch the largest and most comprehensive development programme in the Arab region, according to the statement.

Speaking about the global humanitarian effort, she said though impressive progress has been made, more needs to be done:“The question is not, what have we done well, but how can we do more as we race the hourglass of poverty, of hunger, of disease.” 

During her visit to Florence, Princess Haya also delivered an address at the Global Mayor’s Summit last Thursday under the theme “Unity in Diversity”. Stressing that the notion is critical for cities to progress, Princess Haya shared with the audience the story of how Dubai’s rulers made their vision of connecting people in an environment that embraces “Unity in Diversity” as a reality.

“Dubai’s vision of connecting people dates back to the early 1800s and although recent years have seen its transformation from a fishing village into one of the most dynamic metropolises in the world, some things have not changed in two centuries of the Maktoum family’s rule,” she said.

In the UAE, Emiratis work alongside an incredible mix of expatriates from almost 200 nationalities. Religious, racial and ethnic tolerance enrich the city and allow it to attract talent from all over the world, working in harmony, the princess added. 

“The Maktoum family realised early on that the future depended greatly on the people who passed through and stayed in Dubai; people who needed to feel that they were free to flourish and prosper without risk,” Princess Haya noted.

 

“We have the world represented in Dubai, and in many ways, I believe, Dubai is also a microcosm of the modern world.”

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