HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein Gives CNN A Rare Tour Of Dubai’s International Humanitarian City

In a rare interview HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein takes CNN’s Richard Quest on a tour of Dubai’s International Humanitarian City- the largest humanitarian hub on the planet.

HRH explains that from here aid can be sent “anywhere in the world, within 8 hours”. She says that providing aid to those in crisis is “never well done, until it’s over”.

Key Quotes:

On where the aid is coming from:

“We’ve got 70 members, including UN Agencies, NGO’s, different charities and they store all their stock here and we facilitate and help coordinate in emergencies…We supply for any humanitarian emergency whether it’s a natural disaster or manmade and we respond in a completely apolitical manner”

On the positioning of the IHC:

“There wasn’t anything like this in existence, so to speak. We have the sea right next to us and we’ve got the port, we’ve got the airport next to us, we can move from sea to air in 7mins to be able to deliver- and logistics, yes, it’s a signature of Dubai”

On how the logistics mobilisation process works:

“As soon as [IHC, CEO] Giuseppe [Saba] calls me and says WFP needs a plane to go to Bangladesh, UNHCR needs to send something to wherever, within minutes I’m calling Sheikh Mohammed I’m asking him for permission to mobilise the aircraft”

On how she feels about the work her husband, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the IHC is doing:

“I’m really proud of what he does and what the government of the UAE do, and what I’m allowed to do, but I don’t think any of the leadership here feels that they can pat themselves on the back and say it’s a job well done- the nature of what we’re dealing with, it’s never well done until it’s over”.