Philanthropy under spotlight at summit

DUBAI: Philanthropy is a vital force in driving the knowledge economy, said panellists in a session titled “Good for Knowledge” on the irst day of the Knowledge Summit 2018, taking place on December 5-6, 2018, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Emirati businessman Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and founder of Pearl Initiative – a not-for-proit organisation promoting accountability, transparency and governance within the Gulf – highlighted, among other issues, what he believed were the most effective philanthropic organisations operating in the region.

“One example is Education for Employment, established and founded by Ron Bruder. What he realised was that if we don’t generate further opportunities for youth, we risk creating a lot of discontent. It’s a simple model – basically it gets companies to pay for vocational training. It has now trained over 150,000 youths in 8-9 years. The companies beneit because they have a pool of qualiied talent, so it’s a model that feeds itself,” he said.

“We wanted to encourage people to give more, but we always faced mistrust,” noted Dr Shamsh Kassimlakha, Chairman of the Board of University of Central Asia. “We created the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy to certify non-profit organisations. To date we have certified 1,000 such organisations. We have strict criteria for certification, including how many women they employ or include on their board, and their regulatory framework. When philanthropists see an organisation has been approved by the Centre, they are more confident to give more.” Shiza Shahid, co-founder of the Malala Fund, a charitable organisation working to break down the barriers preventing 130 million girls around the world from going to school, said: “I think philanthropy’s role is to address the challenges that the market doesn’t; to take on the risks that the market won’t. Scientific research takes a long time to become market-ready. Philanthropy can foster scientific research that can enter the market and eventually become sustainable or profitable,” she said.