Emirati billionaire funds child refugee programme
Thousands of child refugees affected by conflict and disaster will be helped back into education thanks to a Dh100 million project by Emirati philanthropist Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair.
The first phase of the Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund – a three-year initiative to aid youngsters across the Middle East – was launched in Dubai.
It will involve 6,500 refugee children. They will benefit from Dh45m in funding, delivered in partnership with several charity organisations.
The first of three rounds of funding will support needy youngsters living in the UAE, Jordan and Lebanon.
Announcing the funding plan in Dubai yesterday, Mr Al Ghurair said he was determined to invest in the future of refugee children and give them access to a better life.
“Millions of refugee children and young people continue to struggle to access education in this region and that is why I am committed to helping as many refugee youths as possible to get back into school,” he said.
According to figures from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, there are four million refugee children out of school, while half of the global refugee population is based in the Arab world.
A mere 23 per cent of refugee children are enrolled in secondary school compared with the 84 per cent global average.
Mr Al Ghurair called on the private sector to play a more active and visible role in helping young people.
“There are a lot of good people in the UAE who are doing a lot of good work but they need to go out and let people know about it.
“I want people to be more involved. It is just as important for companies to give us their time as well as money.
“I am affirming my commitment to help as many out-ofschool youths as I can to get back into school,” he said.
Mr Al Ghurair said funds will be used to enable refugee children to attend secondary school before vocational training or university.
“The UAE has become a role model for the world, setting new benchmarks in giving and philanthropy,” he said.
“It is a credit to our leaders that the UAE has been ranked as the No1 country, across the world when it comes to international humanitarian donations over the past five years.” Last week, Mr Al Ghurair told
The National that traditional ways of giving, by making private donations to charity, were not enough.
He called on entrepreneurs to be open about their charitable donations and treat them like a publicly listed company.
Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, the wife of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, pledged her support to the project.
“This generous philanthropic initiative to support the education of 6,500 Arab refugee children and youths in the first cycle will have a positive, life-changing impact on so many of those displaced who have had their lives disrupted by conflict,” she said.