Dubai: The inaugural board meeting of the newly forged Mohammad Bin Rashid Global Initiatives Foundation was helmed on Tuesday by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
The first gathering of decision makers included Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Deputy Chairman of the board, Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, Wife of Shaikh Mohammad and United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Announced on Sunday, the new foundation consolidates 28 organisations under a single umbrella with an annual budget of Dh1 billion and will focus on four key areas: spreading knowledge; combating poverty, empowering communities and innovation for the future.
It will work in general within 116 countries, focusing mainly on the Arab region.
Shaikh Mohammad ordered the immediate preparation of a plan to achieve the goals of the initiatives to reach 130 million people over the next 10 years.
Shaikh Mohammad ordered setting up a team to coordinate between bodies who are members of the Mohammad Bin Rashid Initiative. The team will be responsible for looking into available opportunities to forge partnerships and benefit from expertise and resources that are available to these bodies, which will help the initiatives achieve new goals.
“In the current day and age, humanitarian work requires a vision, strategic planning, specific goals, and effective management of financial and human resources in order to achieve a real change in people’s lives,” said Shaikh Mohammad.
“We have massive humanitarian ambitions, and we need massive humanitarian organisations to meet those ambitions. We have succeeded previously in reaching 56 million beneficiaries, unifying all bodies under one umbrella. Today, we are able to reach even more people. We made a promise to instil new hope in the region; this is not merely a slogan. It is a mission that requires extensive planning, execution and follow-ups,” said Shaikh Mohammad.
Shaikh Mohammad issued instructions to focus efforts on building a larger humanitarian development programme that includes the Arab world in order to meet basic health-care needs, combat illiteracy, spread knowledge and culture, as well as to support youth, community initiatives and innovators.
During the meeting, the board approved a number of strategic initiatives to carry out the vision of the foundation.
Shaikh Hamdan said that the humanitarian goals announced by the initiative and the foundation are the beginning of a new phase in the UAE’s journey of generosity.
“The vision and philosophy of Shaikh Mohammad in the field of humanitarian work and development are not different from the vision he has for other sectors. Humanitarian work gives a new meaning to our life and existence,” added Shaikh Hamdan.
The foundation comprises four sections for combating poverty, spreading knowledge, empowering societies and innovation.
Shaikh Maktoum said that Shaikh Mohammad has laid down a model for sustainable humanitarian generosity by setting up this foundation and others before it.
“I call on the private sector and businessmen to leave a mark in the field of humanitarian work and emulate the march of our leaders. Private organisations who do not care for a society that they are a part of is an organisation which societies will not be loyal to and future generations will not respect,” said Shaikh Maktoum.
Princess Haya said that the Arab world today is going through a very critical phase that requires men like Shaikh Mohammad, who instil hope, project positivity and change reality through historic initiatives. “History will never forget such men. The Arab world today requires a comprehensive development project that eradicates the causes of ignorance, poverty and intolerance and provides hope for the future. The project launched by Shaikh Mohammad will be warmly received by contributors and supporters not just from the Arab world, but the entire world, because Shaikh Mohammad’s experience in the UAE’s development has proved to the world that he is capable of transforming dreams into reality,” said Princess Haya.
The meeting was attended by Mohammad Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Secretary-General of the foundation, as well as other members of the board.
With inputs from WAM
