Dubai – March 22, 2016: Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has launched the newest member of MBR Global Initiatives, the largest global initiative for endowments, established a district for endowment projects and announced the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy (MBRGCEC). The Centre will provide free of charge consultation on Awqaf and endowments. His Highness also provided a 5 billion dirhams endowment for knowledge, science and future research.
"We opened the doors to become the most supportive nation for endowment for the service of humanity”. “Many businessmen provide charity in secret, we want them to announce their endowments and lead by example.” His Highness also added that endowment is open and available to everyone without any religious, ethnic or geographic restrictions and that our giving and tolerance is what drives Dubai’s humanitarian initiatives. “Expatriate businessmen and investors impressed me by their giving, commitment and appreciation of the importance of Waqf. The UAE will always be the capital of humanity through its initiatives and efforts aimed at serving people and its humanitarian innovative projects.
His Highness launched the first endowment consultancy to serve humanity through the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy, part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Initiatives, to implement Dubai’s Awqaf and Endowment vision and strategy. Additionally, the centre will aim to achieve its global vision through stimulating and empowering Awqaf and Endowments to meet the Arab World’s social needs. The Centre provides free-of-charge services to individuals as well as local, regional and international institutions in order to transform Awqaf and Endowments into one of the most prominent incentives for development in the Arab World. The Centre also endeavours to provide consultancy around the establishment and management of Awqaf and Endowment institutions based on global best practices. Finally, the Centre focuses on Awqaf and Endowment knowledge management through conducting and managing research, studies, conferences, workshops and establishing relevant partnerships.
His Highness also launched the Dubai Awqaf and Endowments District in service of the UAE and the Arab World. The Districts will be the first social real estate project inspired by innovation in endowments and in cooperation with the development banks in the United Arab Emirates and the Arab World. The Districts will be built on a property endowed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to build housing for those who possess the funds but lack the assets, with proceeds from each building being allocated to Awqaf and Endowment needs. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy (MBRGCEC) will supervise the districts, which will have two focus areas. The first area will concentrate on serving the United Arab Emirates by catering to its unique set of social needs, while the second serves the Arab World by catering to a series of social needs across the Arab World. The first Endowment Street in the world positions the neighbourhood as an innovative project for Awqaf and Endowments.
His Highness also announced a total of 5 billion dirham endowment. The Innovation Endowment valued at one billion dirhams and the Knowledge Endowment valued at 3.5 billion dirhams are properties dedicated to supporting innovation projects and education projects while another 500 million dirhams endowed for other general purposes. He also called for new legislation authorising the establishment of Awqaf and Endowment foundations in Dubai.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has also launched the Dubai Awqaf and Endowment Sign, which will allow entities from the private and public sectors to serve the community.
His Excellency Mohammed Al Gergawi, secretary general of MBR Global Initiative said that the global centre established by His Highness will have a prominent role in the allocation of endowment fun to fulfil the most critical Arab social needs. His Excellency also added that the centre will support a comprehensive mechanism for economic development through innovative endowment.
Additionally, as per His Highness’s directive, Dr Hamad Al Hammady has been assigned the position of secretary general of MBRGCEC.
The first batch of the Dubai Endowment Sign recipients has been announced during the launch of Dubai’s Awqaf and Endowment Vision. The first batch includes establishments that endeavour to serve the community on various levels and target several development focus areas. The list includes the "Emarat Al Youm" newspaper, which sponsors the Autism Endowment, “The MOB” which developed the promotional videos during the launch event and did so as an endowment under the Awareness Endowment, Kuttab Cafe presented the Reading Endowment, "Al Shabab Al Arabi" Club presented the Health Endowment; Wasl Asset Management Group presented its School Maintenance Endowment, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company "Du" presented its Medicines Endowment, the Roads and Transport Authority presented its Public Transport Endowment, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority presented a Marriage Endowment and the Mohammed Bin Rashid School for Communication presented its Education Endowment.
Dubai's Global Vision for Awqaf and Endowments consist of eight themes. These themes include a comprehensive strategy, a clear legislative environment, effective consultation, international best practices in the establishment and management of Awqaf and Endowment foundations, maximizing social impact through innovative Awqaf and Endowment opportunities, monitoring urgent social needs in the UAE and the Arab World, stimulating Awqaf and Endowments as well as enabling crowdfunding. The modules work together to help Dubai achieve its global vision for Awqaf and Endowments. They also underline four strategic themes, the first of which aims to transform Dubai into a catalyst to serve society through Awqaf and Endowments. The second theme seeks to transform Dubai into a regional hub that caters to the Arab World’s social needs through Awqaf and Endowments. The third theme ensures that Dubai becomes a source of global best practices for Awqaf and Endowments while the fourth theme aims to enable Dubai to become a global source for Awqaf and Endowment research and expertise. The MBRGCEC collected the best international practices coupled with the best expertise to advice on establishing and managing Awqaf and Endowment foundations. The centre has prepared a best practices guide that sets a road map to the optimal way to formulate strategic plans for Awqaf and Endowment foundations. The guide also provides input into the type of organisational structure options, the general framework for project-prioritisation to maximise social impact, investment management, performance indicators and developing operations. The centre will provide all the necessary consultations for new or existing institutions.