Mubasher: The Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) has raised approximately AED 11 billion for development projects in both the education and healthcare sectors, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

In cooperation with international financial institutions, the UAE fund has worked to increase spending on major sectors, including health, food security, transport, housing, education, water, agriculture, and energy to achieve the goals outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, in addition to contributing social and economic growth in developing countries.

ADFD has disbursed AED 81 billion in concessionary loans and government grants across 88 countries worldwide, WAM said.

ADFD has funded the 200-bed children's hospital in King Hussein Medical City in Jordan; the fund pledged AED 73 million for the first two phases of the project.

Director general of ADFD Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi said, “Over the years, the ADFD has intensified its efforts to finance health care as well as education projects, in particular, to reduce poverty rates and increase the standard of living in beneficiary countries."

In Jordan, the ADFD also funded the Al Bashir Hospital and the King Hussein Cancer Centre.

While in Bahrain, the UAE fund has financed the construction of the AED 16 million Sheikh Khalifa Hospital in the Comoros and an AED 562 million cardiac centre to reduce the pressure on specialised heart disease treatment facilities in the country.

“In Morocco, the fund managed an Abu Dhabi government grant worth AED 239 million. The grant helped purchase equipment for the 916-bed Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakesh, a specialist medical complex that spans 8.8 hectares,” WAM said.