Today is World Humanitarian Day, a moment to reflect on the troubling reality that although the work of saving lives has become more sophisticated, many of the challenges faced by vulnerable populations are as old as humanity itself.
The brutal and protracted war on Gaza, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives at least so far, resembles a conflict from the last century. With such scorched-earth warfare, the accompanying dangers for civilians are similar to those faced by besieged communities throughout history – death, injury, poverty, malnutrition and disease. Such devastation can set entire societies back; the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah has just confirmed Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years.
It is not just armed conflicts that present humanitarian challenges – natural disasters continue to plague humanity. Last week, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Syria, frightening communities already scarred by last year’s deadly tremors that claimed thousands of lives. In many parts of the world, similar calamities are now being compounded by the effects of climate change, as extreme weather worsens an increasing number of floods, droughts and storms.
The interlinked and complex nature of these problems begs the question: what will humanitarian work look like in the future, and what is being done now to make it more effective? Some answers to these questions can be found in the UAE’s commitment to foreign aid and development, something the OECD says the country has undertaken since its formation in 1971.
It is a commitment delivered by humanitarians and aid workers often operating in dangerous and difficult conditions. Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed, the UAE’s Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Development and Fallen Heroes' Affairs and Chairman of the International Humanitarian and Philanthropic Council, paid tribute to such workers, commending their “inspiring efforts … in spreading hope among societies suffering from crises”, state news agency Wam reported.
The Emirates has committed significant amounts of resources to help other countries with acute emergencies and more long-term aid – according to the latest official figures, in 2022 total UAE funding for international aid was $3.45 billion, a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. Recently, its diplomatic influence was brought to bear by helping to reach a global consensus on setting up a loss and damage fund at the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai.
The UAE’s convening power and strong international positioning is central to its success in tackling global issues of consequence for people around the world. By using its expertise in other areas, the country is able to come up with innovative answers to pressing problems.
The UAE’s embrace of AI and other advanced digital technologies is informing its approach to aid
Furthermore, the UAE’s embrace of AI and other advanced digital technologies is informing its approach to aid. One example was in September last year when, during a UN Security Council open debate, the Emirates announced plans to establish a digital response platform that will use AI, machine learning and geospatial tools to better co-ordinate and deliver aid. Indeed, the country’s humanitarian contributions during the Covid-19 pandemic, its long-running polio vaccination campaign in Pakistan and the provision of vital medical aid to Gazan civilians all work better with advanced technology.
The world’s humanitarian efforts must continue to be collective, with innovative and dynamic countries such as the UAE of vital importance. The challenges keep coming. Traditional donor fatigue, a lack of diplomatic will to tackle crises effectively, as well as political obstruction – as seen in the efforts to undermine the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – make the task of helping people an even more difficult one. In addition, the UN has said that last year was the deadliest on record for aid workers, with 2024 shaping up to be even worse.
The key to helping the estimated 186.5 million people in need across the world has to be working smarter. Instead of overly focusing on emergency aid, strategies for women’s empowerment, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and eradicating disease will help to promote stability in the long term. The UAE has been leading from the front, but as global challenges become more numerous and complicated, innovation and forward thinking must intensify and continue.
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Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Prophets of Rage
(Fantasy Records)
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
THE BIO
Ms Davison came to Dubai from Kerala after her marriage in 1996 when she was 21-years-old
Since 2001, Ms Davison has worked at many affordable schools such as Our Own English High School in Sharjah, and The Apple International School and Amled School in Dubai
Favourite Book: The Alchemist
Favourite quote: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail
Favourite place to Travel to: Vienna
Favourite cuisine: Italian food
Favourite Movie : Scent of a Woman
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
