Sharjah
The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), a Sharjah-based global humanitarian organisation, on Tuesday announced it is implementing three key initiatives in Egypt, allocating a total $2 million (Dh7.34 million) in grants.
The projects promote development across a number of sectors in Egypt’s capital Cairo and in rural areas.
TBHF is partnering with local bodies in Egypt to facilitate the initiatives’ implementation. The three initiatives have been designed to improve the standards of health care in their respective areas whilst ensuring capacity-building of local talent to build social, health care and educational services.
The overall aim of the activities is to enhance the capabilities of staff and enable them to effectively give back to their communities.
The first two projects target institutions in Cairo, with the Abbasia Hospital for Mental Health and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) benefitting from TBHF’s grant funds. The third project, called The Egypt Network for Integrated Development, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation, aims to enhance basic services in Upper Egypt through improving healthcare infrastructures and addressing gaps in gender equality.
Mariam Al Hammadi, director of TBHF, said: “The Big Heart Foundation seeks to provide humanitarian support that elevates the living conditions of target communities in line with the directives of Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammad Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council member and Ruler of Sharjah and chairperson of The Big Heart Foundation. TBHF is committed to supporting vulnerable individuals and providing them with education and training to increase their level of engagement in the development of their countries. The projects in Egypt form part of the foundation’s vision and mission to improve the living conditions of individuals in impoverished communities and in communities that are struggling to provide adequate essential services.”
The grant provided by TBHF to Egypt’s General Secretariat of Mental Health and Addiction will support the development of a Child and Adolescent Unit at Abbasia Hospital and will facilitate 20,000 psychotherapy sessions a year for patients. A significant proportion of the funds has gone towards the establishment of a day care centre for young people with autism, with some funds being earmarked for research and for the creation of awareness campaigns about the condition.
The half-a-million cancer patients that NCI cares for annually in Cairo has led to the organisation experiencing shortages in human resources and challenges with its information technology network.
TBHF has helped the hospital tackle these issues by funding a complete IT transformation drive. The current IT infrastructure of the hospital will be upgraded through targeted staffing, the provision of IT training and GAP analysis. The project hopes to ultimately enable the establishment to operate as a fully digitised hospital with increased service capacity.
TBHF’s third initiative is being implemented in partnership with the UNDP in rural areas of Upper Egypt, where half the population live under the national poverty line. The grant provided by TBHF to UNDP will go towards developing rural healthcare units, providing combined literacy and vocational training for young women, in addition to creating income generation opportunities to the various beneficiaries of the initiative. All project activities aim to improve basic services and ultimately bring about sustained local economic development.
