Al Ansari Exchange signs AED 10 million agreement with Dubai Cares
26 Nov 2013
Al Ansari Exchange, the UAE-based foreign exchange and worldwide money transfer company, recently inked a AED 10 million agreement with Dubai Cares, the UAE-based philanthropic organization launched in September 2007 by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to improve children’s access to quality primary education in developing countries.
Mohamed A. Al Ansari, Chairman and Managing Director of Al Ansari Exchange, said: “Education is the basic right of every child as it helps them become better citizens of tomorrow. We truly support the vision of Dubai Cares’ founder H.H. Sheikh Mohammed’s of empowering children with quality education so that they can become valuable contributors to society. This donation is part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda of giving back to the community in a positive way. We sincerely hope our donation will help underprivileged children in developing countries access quality primary education.”
The five-year partnership between the two organizations will benefit tens of thousands of beneficiaries in three Asian countries: India, Pakistan and Philippines. Each country will receive an investment of at least AED 3 million, which will support programs focused on education as well as health and nutrition. All three developing economies are critical to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, especially in the sphere of education. However, they still face severe hurdles in making education accessible to a huge percentage of primary age children and increasing and sustaining their enrolment in schools. Dubai Cares will invest the funds in designing and implementing programs that focus on key issues such as girls’ education, teacher training, improving core curriculum and school feeding.
Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Cares said: “Dubai Cares is deeply grateful to Al Ansari Exchange for their generous investment in these three beneficiary countries. It is evident that global citizenship and social responsibility is a growing concern among the UAE community and is a significant aspect of the Al Ansari corporate culture. In addition to contributing to local initiatives such as Sheikh Mohammed’s ‘Dress one million needy children campaign’, Al Ansari Exchange has also worked with organizations around the world on global humanitarian issues. This donation will make a lasting impact on the lives of children who do not have access to basic amenities such as primary education, hygienic living conditions, healthy food and clean water. We hope that the corporate sector in the UAE will take similar steps in support of humanitarian effort.”
Al Ansari Exchange is committed to various community-oriented causes as part of its CSR agenda. Last year, they forged a partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of two major health priorities: polio eradication and treatment as well as the prevention of neglected tropical diseases. A joint commitment of USD 10 million was made, with each side committing to provide half of that amount over the next five years.
Conceptualized and set up by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Cares is dedicated to increasing access to quality primary education for children in developing countries. As part of its mandate to eliminate the underlying obstacles that prevent children from going to school and learning, Dubai Cares focuses on building and renovating schools and classrooms, improving water, sanitation and hygiene in schools, providing school feeding, deworming activities, early childhood education, as well as teacher training, curriculum development, literacy and numeracy.