Simply Abu Dhabi Magazine XIX

5 3 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I NATO campaign to force Serbia to halt its genocidal activities against the people of Kosovo. From late 1999 to 2001, the UAE contingent serving with the UN’s KFOR peacekeeping force was the largest from any of the non-NATO states, and the only one from an Arab or Muslim country. Even whilst acknowledging that the UAE was ready to increasingly shoulder international responsibilities, Sheikh Zayed was also quite emphatic that the UAE’s role should be one that is focused on relief and rehabilitation. With regard to troubled regions such as the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, the UAE’s policies clearly reflected the desire of Sheikh Zayed to extend the good fortune of his country to those less fortunate. Although the Sheikh amassed personal wealth over the course of his life, he always lived modestly. As a devoted philanthropist, he believed that the oil wealth the UAE acquired was a gift from God that should be shared with countries and people in need. Through organisations such as the Zayed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation and theAbu Dhabi Fund for Development, which he established even before the foundation of the UAE, as well as through institutions like the Red Crescent Society, Sheikh Zayed subsequently channelled economic assistance to at least 40 countries on three continents. He also endowed many charitable appeals. The country now plays a major role in providing relief and development assistance worldwide. Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Sheikh Rashid Bin Said Al Maktoum – the Union of Two (18 February 1968)