Development Co‑operation Profiles: United Arab Emirates
Table of contents
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been a provider of development co-operation since 1971. Development co-operation is a central component of the United Arab Emirates’ foreign policy, which aims to reduce poverty, promote stability, peace and prosperity; strengthen relationships with partners; and foster trade and investment ties. The United Arab Emirates’ approach is demand-driven and partnership-based, with a commitment to addressing in particular humanitarian crises. The United Arab Emirates’ development co-operation mostly focuses on the Middle East and Africa. It is an active development co‑operation provider, with a high official development assistance (ODA) to gross national income (GNI) ratio. The United Arab Emirates’ total ODA (USD 3.4 billion, preliminary data) increased in 2025, representing 0.61% of GNI.
This profile presents verified data on the United Arab Emirates’ development assistance allocations. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
In 2022, the United Arab Emirates updated its foreign assistance policy, which outlines the country’s priorities across seven global themes (women and girls’ empowerment and protection; education; health; addressing climate change; food security; infrastructure development; and science, technology and innovation). Central to the United Arab Emirates’ development co-operation efforts is its focus on humanitarian assistance, with the majority of the country’s bilateral ODA being directed to supporting fragile countries and contexts. The United Arab Emirates’ policy places an emphasis on a partnership approach to deliver development co-operation (bilateral; multilateral; and with the private sector, philanthropies and domestic companies). The United Arab Emirates has recently established a dedicated aid agency, the UAE Aid Agency (UAE Aid).
The United Arab Emirates is also engaged in the multilateral development system. It actively participates in regional organisations including the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation as well as regional finance institutions, such as the Arab Monetary Fund, among others. In 2023, the United Arab Emirates hosted the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which launched the Global Climate Finance Framework. The United Arab Emirates will co-host the 2026 United Nations Water Conference. Dubai has also hosted the annual World Green Economy Summit since 2014 and hosts the annual Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition.
The United Arab Emirates provided USD 3.4 billion (preliminary data) of ODA in 2025 (USD 3.2 billion in constant terms), representing 0.61% of GNI.1 This was an increase of 55.5% in real terms in volume and an increase in the share of GNI from 2024. The United Arab Emirates is in line with international commitments to achieve a 0.7% ODA/GNI ratio. Within the United Arab Emirates’s ODA portfolio in 2024, 73.5% was provided in the form of grants, 26.5% was extended as loans.
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates ranked as third in terms of ODA/GNI percentage share among non‑DACs. The United Arab Emirates channels the majority of its ODA bilaterally, with support to context with high and extreme fragility representing 83.9% of its gross bilateral ODA. The United Arab Emirates had a high amount of gross bilateral ODA disbursements to the humanitarian pillar of the humanitarian development-peace nexus in fragile contexts in 2024.
Notes: This table only includes information about ODA data-related DAC recommendations. ODA: official development assistance; GNI: gross national income; DAC: Development Assistance Committee.
The United Arab Emirates provided almost all of its ODA bilaterally in 2024. Gross bilateral ODA was 98.8% of total ODA disbursements. Of this, 11.3% of gross bilateral ODA was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates provided USD 301.8 million of gross ODA to the multilateral system, a fall of 5.9% in real terms from 2023. Of this, USD 29.2 million was core multilateral ODA (1.2% of total ODA), while USD 272.5 million was non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. Project-type funding earmarked for a specific theme and/or country accounted for 41.8% of the United Arab Emirates’s non-core contributions, and 58.2% was programmatic funding (to pooled funds and specific-purpose programmes and funds).
The United Nations (UN) system received 92.5% of the United Arab Emirates’s contributions to multilateral organisations, of which USD 252.5 million (90.4%) represented earmarked contributions. Out of a total volume of USD 279.2 million to the UN system, the top three UN recipients of the United Arab Emirates’s support (core and earmarked contributions) were WFP (USD 162.6 million), WHO-Assessed (USD 25.6 million) and UNHCR (USD 23.5 million).
See the section on Geographic, sectoral and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
Learn more by exploring the DAC members’ use of the multilateral system dashboard.
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates’s bilateral spending increased compared to the previous year. It provided USD 2.4 billion of gross bilateral ODA (which includes earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations). This represented an increase of 6.8% in real terms from 2023.
In 2024, country programmable aid amounted to USD 1.2 billion, or 50.5% of the United Arab Emirates’s gross bilateral ODA.
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates channelled its bilateral ODA mainly through the public sector.
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates’s bilateral ODA primarily focused on the Middle East, in line with its policy priorities. A total of USD 1 billion was allocated to the Middle East and USD 972.5 million to countries in Africa, accounting respectively for 43.2% and 40.5% of gross bilateral ODA. A total of USD 214.2 million was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East). The Middle East was also the main regional recipient of the United Arab Emirates’s earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations.
In 2024, 84.4% of gross bilateral ODA went to the United Arab Emirates’s top 10 recipients, mostly in the Middle East and Africa. The share of gross bilateral ODA not allocated by country was 5.2%.
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates allocated 0.21% of its GNI to the least developed countries (LDCs). The United Arab Emirates allocated the highest share of gross bilateral ODA (50.1% or USD 1.2 billion) to least developed countries in 2024, noting that 5.2% was unallocated by income group. Additionally, the United Arab Emirates allocated 34.5% of gross bilateral ODA to land-locked developing countries in 2024, equal to USD 828.6 million.
The distribution of the United Arab Emirates’s ODA in net terms in relation to “ODA per person in extreme poverty”2 was USD 1.2 in LDCs, USD 0.3 in lower middle-income countries (LMICs) and USD 5 in upper middle-income countries.
In 2025, the United Arab Emirates provided USD 5 million of net bilateral ODA to Ukraine to respond to the Ukraine crisis, a 62.9% decrease from 2024 in real terms. None of this was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility was USD 2 billion in 2024, representing 83.9% of the United Arab Emirates’s gross bilateral ODA. Of this ODA, 48.4% was provided in the form of humanitarian assistance, compared to 63.6% in 2023. Learn more about the States of Fragility platform.
In 2024, the largest focus of the United Arab Emirates’s bilateral ODA was on general budget support (USD 595 million) accounting for 44.1% of bilateral ODA commitments. ODA for social infrastructure and services totalled USD 258.2 million, with a focus on health and population (USD 120 million). Production sectors amounted to USD 225 million (16.7% of bilateral ODA). Earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations also focused on social sectors and economic sectors in 2024.
In the period 2023-2024, the United Arab Emirates committed 13.2% of screened bilateral allocable ODA to gender equality and women’s empowerment. This is equal to USD 50 million of screened bilateral allocable ODA in support of gender equality on average per year. In addition, the United Arab Emirates screens the majority of bilateral allocable ODA against the DAC gender equality policy marker (67.3% in 2023-2024).
In 2023-2024, the United Arab Emirates committed 7.2% of its total bilateral allocable ODA (USD 39.3 million) in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions.
In 2024, the United Arab Emirates:
Allocated 5% of its bilateral ODA (USD 121.2 million) to core poverty-reducing sectors as defined by SDG 1.a.1. This indicator captures grants to basic social services (such as basic health and education, water supply and sanitation, multisector aid for basic social services) and development food aid. Learn more by exploring the Reducing poverty and inequalities through the ODA data explainer.
Committed USD 66.8 million (8.8% of its bilateral allocable ODA) to promote aid for trade and improve developing countries’ trade performance and integration into the world economy in 2024. Learn more by exploring the Aid for Trade dashboard.
In 2024, total official and private flows from the United Arab Emirates to developing countries amounted to USD 2.1 billion in net terms. Official sources accounted for the totality of these USD 2.1 billion.
Total official support for sustainable development (TOSSD) is an international statistical standard that monitors and increases the transparency of all official and officially supported resources for financing the SDGs received by developing countries (Pillar 1) and for addressing global challenges (Pillar 2). In 2024, activities reported by the United Arab Emirates as TOSSD totalled USD 2.5 billion, marking an 8% increase compared with the previous year. The United Arab Emirates’s TOSSD activities mostly targeted SDG 17 (partnerships for the Goals), SDG 1 (no poverty) and SDG 3 (good health and well-being). Activity-level data on TOSSD by recipient are available at: https://tossd.online.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) has been responsible for setting policies, defining geographical and sectoral priorities and overseeing the strategic direction of the United Arab Emirates’ development co‑operation. In addition to its policymaking role, the ministry determines the modalities and mechanisms for foreign aid distribution, implementation and documentation of aid flows. The MoFA also co-ordinates the activities of all of the United Arab Emirates’ official providers, including the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the country’s primary public fund engaged in development co-operation.
UAE Aid was established in 2024 as a dedicated entity to oversee and implement the United Arab Emirates’ humanitarian and development assistance programmes. UAE Aid plays a central role in managing aid distribution, ensuring alignment with the United Arab Emirates’ foreign assistance policy, and enhancing efficiency and co-ordination in delivering its aid globally. It works closely with the MoFA, the ADFD and other UAE donors to strengthen the country’s ability to respond to humanitarian crises, support long-term development projects, and engage with multilateral organisations and international aid frameworks.
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development placed a renewed emphasis on strengthening the effectiveness of all forms of development co-operation by upholding and elevating the Effectiveness Principles. Adherence to these principles is measured through the partner country-led monitoring exercise of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation. The United Arab Emirates participated in the 2023-2026 monitoring round through its reporting to one partner country, Liberia. Its results can be found here.
Access the full list of development co-operation providers at: Development Co-operation Profiles.
United Arab Emirates’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFA): https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en.
United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Aid Policy: https://www.mofa.gov.ae/en/The-Ministry/UAE-International-Development-Cooperation#:~:text=The%20fundamental%20purpose%20of%20UAE,investment%20ties %20with%20developing%20countries.
United Arab Emirates’ Annual Foreign Aid Reports: https://www.mofaic.gov.ae/en/The-Ministry/UAE-International-Development-Cooperation/Annual-Foreign-Aid-Report.
The United Arab Emirates has been a Participant of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) since 2014.
The United Arab Emirates has been reporting to the OECD since 1970 and reporting activity-level data since 2010.
The United Arab Emirates participated as an observer in the Peer Review of Germany in 2015.
The ADFD is a member of the Arab Coordination Group. In this context, it participates in regular Arab-DAC Dialogues on Development.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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← 1. DAC members adopted the grant-equivalent methodology starting from their reporting of 2018 data as a more accurate way to count the donor effort in development loans. See the methodological notes for further details.
← 2. Aid per person in extreme poverty is calculated by dividing net ODA (bilateral and imputed multilateral) by the population in extreme poverty in each country. It estimates how much ODA each person in extreme poverty would receive if total ODA was divided evenly among the extreme poor. This metric does not measure the amount of ODA actually received by each person in extreme poverty, nor does it measure how much ODA goes to poverty reduction. It instead highlights patterns in total ODA allocations relative to the number of people living in extreme poverty in each country. Group averages are calculated based on a weighted average of aid per person in extreme poverty and the number of people in extreme poverty for each country in the group. See the methodological notes for further details.