Vice President unveils Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives annual report

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, unveiled the 2018 Annual Report of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, MBRGI, which acts as an umbrella for 33 entities and initiatives operating in the fields of humanitarian and human development projects benefitting more than 70 million people in 86 countries.

Held at Dubai Opera, the meeting and the annual report launch was attended by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group; H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation; H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; H.H. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, Dubai Culture; and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance.

Also in attendance at the mega gathering were teams and volunteers of the various MBRGI branches.

The group’s initiatives were spread across the five main pillars of humanitarian aid and relief, spreading education and knowledge, health care and disease control, innovation and entrepreneurship, and empowering communities.

The expenditure on humanitarian aid and relief totalled AED271 million, supporting 11.9 million beneficiaries in addition to AED126 million invested in various projects and initiatives dedicated to empowering communities, which benefited 3.2 million individuals.

Sheikh Mohammed said: "With the leadership of my brother President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE carries on UAE Founding Father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan’s legacy of giving. We believe that the more we give for humanity, the more the Almighty blesses our country with prosperity and peace.

"We seek to create new hope for our region, improve people’s lives and share the UAE’s message of giving with the world," added Sheikh Mohammed, who also said: "I thank my team who devoted themselves to serving humanity. I am proud of them and their achievements in humanitarian work. I am equally proud of the competitive spirit among our humanitarian entities to do good."

According to the report, the biggest share of MBRGI’ expenditure was on education with AED628 million benefiting over 41.1 million last year, while AED313 million was spent on health care and disease-control benefiting 13.1 million people.

"I am proud of 660 employees and more than 100, 000 volunteers who helped us in changing the lives of millions of people for the better in 86 countries worldwide in 2018," His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, tweeted.

Leading MBRGI’s education efforts, Dubai Cares benefited more than 22.6 million people in 39 countries last year, with its projects expanding to four new countries: Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Dubai Cares also launched 24 new international programmes that comprised constructing and renovating 2,029 classrooms and schools, training 118,873 teachers, building 6,055 school bathrooms, and providing meals for 484,490 students. In addition, it helped provide intestinal worm prevention to around 16 million children, including 15.3 million in India and 690,654 in Vietnam.

Among the highlights of MBRGI’s humanitarian works last year was its effort to quench the thirst of millions of people who were otherwise without drinking water. Under this initiative, 216 water projects, including wells, water purification plants and water networks were developed, benefiting 8.2 million people. The expenditure on humanitarian aid and relief totalled AED271 million, supporting 11.9 million beneficiaries in addition to AED126 million invested in various projects and initiatives dedicated to empowering communities, which benefited 3.2 million individuals.

Acting as the hub of MBRGI’s relief work, the International Humanitarian City in Dubai, IHC, dispatched 2,000 tonnes of aid. Last year, IHC set up air bridges to deliver medical supplies, food and relief items to crisis-torn countries. It carried out 20 shipments of aid and relief material to 10 countries. According to MBRGI figures for 2018, 11.7 million patients received trachoma medications in Ethiopia, where 32,474 eye surgeries were performed last year. Over 1.4 million tetanus vaccines were provided in 20 countries to save mothers and their newborn babies.

Noor Dubai’s mobile eye clinics examined 12,181 patients, conducted 1,146 critical surgeries and distributed 7,923 eyeglasses. Total spending on initiatives for innovation and entrepreneurship amounted to AED131 million, directly benefiting around 640,000 individuals.

H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Vice Chairman of MBRGI Board of Trustees, expressed his pride in the accomplishments of MBRGI’s projects.

"Thanks to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s foresight, the Foundation’s achievements in 2018 demonstrate that investing in creating hope and improving the lives of others is the ideal decision to ensure a better tomorrow," said Sheikh Hamdan.

Founded in 2015, MBRGI is the largest regional and international foundation dedicated to humanitarian aid and social work, established to unify efforts of more than 30 humanitarian initiatives supported by Sheikh Mohammed over the last 20 years.

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