On the final day of their three-day visit to the UAE, HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, HRH the Duchess of Cornwall, accompanied by HRH Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, the wife of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, visited International Humanitarian City, IHC, in Dubai to explore and learn how it facilitates and delivers international humanitarian aid.
Their Royal Highnesses were also accompanied by Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Mohammad bin Nasser Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation, Helal Saeed Almarri, the Director-General of Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing, and a number of other senior officials.
During the visit, the British Royal couple viewed IHC’s work, as a hub for international aid, where agencies like the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot, World Food Programme, and World Vision International collaborate to deliver aid and meet humanitarian needs around the world.
While inspecting the huge scale of operations at IHC and meeting some of the organisations who use its warehouses, the Duchess of Cornwall stressed the importance of meeting children’s needs in disasters.
The tour also included a visit to the IHC operations of ShelterBox, a British charitable organisation of which the Duchess is President and Royal Patron. ShelterBox hand-delivers aid to families devastated by conflict or natural disaster, to give them safe shelter and the tools to rebuild communities.
The Duchess and Princess Haya then proceeded to visit the Al Jalila Children’s Specialty Hospital where they met and greeted young patients.