Shaikh
Mohammed made the announcement during a meeting with Arab leaders and
personalities on the sidelines of the regional consultation on Arab
philanthropy.
“The
new foundation aims at stepping up coordination among Arab charity
organisations in order to achieve the aspired results and increase
their efforts for enabling the region to overcome the challenges it is
currently facing,” he stated.
According
to him, charity work needs supportive agencies with high-calibre
administrative expertise, and coordinated efforts to identify all
aspects and scopes of charitable activities. He stressed that just the
availability of funds was not enough to make achievements. “It involves
multiple factors, the most prominent being the ability of individuals
to be creative and innovative, administrative back-up, availability of
financial resources and readiness by volunteers to dedicate time,
energy and expertise,” he added.
Outlining
the daunting challenges faced by the Arab world, Shaikh Mohammed
categorically affirmed, “Failure options in handling these challenges
are out of question as it’s a matter of responsibility of affluent
Arabs and rich individuals.”
The foundation will:
· encourage and honour pioneers and leaders of Arab social work and creativity
· build administrative capacities of social workers
· enhance transparency in charity and social organisations
· urge Arab rich individuals to donate for charity works
· conduct research on development of charity work in the Arab world.
The
foundation will also launch an array of programmes, including
scholarships for leading social workers, guidelines of voluntary work,
directory of charity organisations, charity workshops, and future
charity work leaders programme, and Social Challenge Fund (to fund
creative charity plans).
Mohammed
Abdullah Al Gergawi, Chairman of the board of Mohammed bin Rashid Al
Maktoum Foundation, underlined the need to formulate sustainable
solutions through strengthening cooperation between philanthropic
organisations in the region.
He
said: “There is no doubt your experience has shown the magnitude of
challenges, the region’s requirements, as well as the lack of efforts
in resolving these issues.
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