Call for network of philanthropists

The Arab world needs a new charity ecosystem that aims to pool resources for highimpact activities

In an effort to harness the charity efforts of regional corporates, business families and individuals in the Arab world, Dubai will soon host a network of philanthropists, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, chairman of Abdullah Al Ghurair Foundation for Education and board member of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, said.

In a keynote address on ‘Philanthropy in Muslim world: Harnessing the abundance of under-utilised capital for social development’, Al Ghurair said there is an urgent need to build an ecosystem of philanthropy to tackling the region’s challenges; and help all citizens in the Arab world reach their full potential.

“The act of giving is our duty as Muslims and is one of the five pillars of our faith. Muslim giving is estimated between $250 billion and $1 trillion annually. Most of this giving however is unorganised and is given by individuals to recipients directly,” he said.

All of us are bound by a shared duty to give to those in need but we also have a duty to ensure that our contributions are making the best possible impact.

“To do this, we must shift away from individual, fragmented giving. I believe that if we join our efforts, the combined impact will be much greater than what we could ever achieve on our own,” said Al Ghurair.

The Muslim world makes up less than a quarter of the global population but it houses nearly half of the world’s poor, said Al Ghurair. In many Muslim countries, infant mortality and infectious diseases are at unacceptable levels.

Many have invested in trying to solve these challenges — governments, private donors, traditional charities. But none of them has been able to solve these challenges from within their silos, he said.

The truth is: no one sector acting alone can harness sufficient innovation to effectively address the huge scale of the issues we face.

“I believe that in the 21st century, with the resources, technology and networks we have, we as a society can solve these problems. Indeed, we have a duty to do so. But we will only succeed if we work together. Learning from the experience of organised charities around the world, the regional network of philanthropists will attempt to bring greater impact into charity works to improve lives in our region.”

Arab region has a proud history of philanthropy to build on. Many of the region’s notable philanthropists are also outstanding business leaders. “We must harness our rich and abundant tradition of charity, and ensure that it is achieving its full potential to improve lives. We must shift from traditional charity to a new ecosystem of high impact philanthropy,” said Al Ghurair.