UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the launch of an international prize of $1 million for finding sustainable solutions to water shortage all over the world through the use of solar energy to desalinate and purify water, the state news agency WAM reported.
Sheikh Mohammed also announced the establishment of the UAE Water Aid Foundation with the aim of conducting research and studies to support the production of clean water using solar energy so as to provide new, cheap and innovative solutions for millions around the world who suffer from scarcity of water and polluted drinking water.
The announcement came during his reception of key supporters and contributors to the UAE Water Aid campaign, at Zabeel Palace.
During the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed announced a personal donation on behalf of all UAE citizens to add to the number of beneficiaries of UAE Water Aid campaign to hit 7 million persons around the world. The UAE Water Aid campaign has collected more than AED180 million ($49 million) in 18 days.
Sheikh Mohammed added: “In the next phase, we will work on searching for durable and radical solutions to the problem of water scarcity using solar energy, which God blessed our planet with, in the process of purification and desalination of water in needy areas around the world; therefore, we invite all research institutions around the world to participate in a competition of $1 million to be awarded to people who can find sustainable, cheap and innovative solutions.
“Furthermore, the UAE Water Aid Foundation we have launched in this context will allocate its resources to conduct all year around to help provide clean water to hundreds of millions of needy people around the world using solar energy as well.”
The UAE Water Aid campaign has seen an unprecedented success in terms of drilling of hundreds of wells so far in many countries such as Tanzania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, northern Iraq, Syrian refugees camps in Erbil and in several African countries such as Niger, Togo and Ghana. Wells drilling will also include Egypt and Yemen over the next phase.
The UAE Red Crescent is working with the UAE embassies and local partners in beneficiary countries for completing the goals of the campaign during the coming stage to provide clean drinking water for 7 million humans around the world.
The meeting was also attended by Dubai Crown Prince H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Deputy Ruler H.H. Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chief Executive of Emirates Group H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Cabinet Affairs Minister and Chairman of UAE Water Aid Campaign Mohammed Abdullah Al Gergawi, Director General of Government of Dubai Media Office Mona Ghanem Al Marri, in addition to UAE Water Aid Campaign key supporters and members of the UAE Water Aid Campaign Organising Committee.
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