In cooperation with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy and Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, the “Kitchens & Beyond” Corporation has announced the establishment of Endowment facilities to be used in child culture programs (Child Culture Endowment) at Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children. The launch of this Innovative Endowment comes in line with the decision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, declaring 2018 as the “Year of Zayed”, and endowment law launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to revive the endowment as a development tool for communities.
Accordingly, the “Kitchens & Beyond” Corporation has received the Dubai Endowment Sign from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy, as one of Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Initiatives, in recognition of its community contribution as a role model in the private sector. This sustainable community service comes in line with the concept of the Innovative Endowment and the first initiative of Child Culture Endowment launched by Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children in collaboration with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy. The concept of the Innovative Endowment allows the creation of different types of endowments as a developmental tool through services, products, and others, and not limiting them to real estate assets, as in the traditional endowment.
Matar Bin Lahej, Executive Director of Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, said, "The culture, literature and knowledge of children are amongst the most important and multifaceted humanitarian works. This work requires the collaborative efforts of social institutions operating within the state. Therefore, we announced the Child Culture Endowment in cooperation with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy. We have found a great support from the Centre, as well as attracting many private entities to support this initiative. We will continue to create all means and methods to support child culture within the various aspects of the Innovative Endowment."
Georgi Romanov, Chief Architect of the “Kitchens & Beyond” Corporation, said, "We are always looking for new aspects of innovation, which is a clear policy of our Corporation. Therefore, we are very keen to support the initiative of Child Culture Endowment, which reflects a new and innovative thinking of the Endowment aimed at learning and educating as many children as possible in the UAE. So, we are truly proud to be part of that initiative. The Innovative Endowment has helped our Corporation to have a prominent developmental role in one of the community needs. We hope that this role will achieve tangible results."
Dr Hamad Al Hammadi, Secretary-General of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy, commended the participation of the “Kitchens & Beyond” Corporation in the Child Culture Endowment, saying, "Since the launch of the initiative of Child Culture Endowment in cooperation with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy and Al Jalila Cultural Centre for Children, many private entities have participated in the provision of cultural support to children. Child culture programs are of great importance, and this is what the private entities, involved in the Child Culture Endowment, have realized. In the next phase, we will intensify our efforts to attract more private entities to enhance their community role through the Innovative Endowment.”
The innovative endowment adopted by MBRGCEC serves to provide unlimited opportunities for government and private sector institutions. It works to advance the narrow definition of awqaf, hence the importance of the contribution of the public and private sectors which can devise initiatives that support the development of communities and meet various social needs. We believe that the contribution of the community through innovative endowments are unlimited and government and private sector institutions can participate in the service of the community regardless of the size of their contribution. Julphar has become a partner in the community by contributing through the innovative endowment, and will be provided the Dubai Endowment Sign launched by His Highness.
The Secretary General of the Centre said that the website - www.MBRgcec.ae is ready to receive inquiries from all interested individuals and organizations wishing to obtain the Dubai Endowment Sign.
The Centre will also provide the necessary consultations to public and private institutions in promoting community contribution by the Dubai Endowment Sign, which helps build a range of community services that address the most important needs of the community through the active participation of institutions.
The Dubai Endowment Sign was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, as a key initiative of the Global Vision for awqaf and endowments. It highlights community participation by providing an opportunity to government and private sector institutions to participate in community service through innovative endowments in favor of the developing the community.
MBRGCEC will oversee the largest global initiative reviving endowments, including legislation and rules, products, and services. The new centre will work on the implementation of the Dubai awqaf and endowments strategy, and achieving the global vision by stimulating and empowering awqaf and endowments to meet the pressing social needs of people.
The centre will provide services to members of local, regional and global institutions at no cost to convert awqaf into one of the main catalysts of development in the Arab world. The centre will provide awqaf and endowment consultations according to international best practices, and consulting in awqaf and endowments deployment options to enhance the social impact for the benefit of the Arab people. The centre also works on knowledge management in the field of Awqaf and endowments through research, studies and the organization of conferences, workshops and partnerships, as well as capacity-building and raising the efficiency of employees working in this area.
Dubai's Global Vision of awqaf and endowments aims to revive endowments and transform Dubai into a global center that aids in serving humanity through eight enablers including a comprehensive strategy, a clear legislative environment, effective consulting, adopting global best practices in the creation and management of awqaf and endowments foundations, maximize impact through highlighting innovative social opportunities, monitor urgent social needs, and finally by stimulating awqaf and endowment through collective funding opportunities. These eight enablers work together in an integrated approach to achieve Dubai’s global vision in this area. These enablers address four strategic objectives, the first of which is to turn Dubai into a catalyst to serve the community through endowments and donations.
The second objective is to transform Dubai into a strategic regional hub to meet the social needs in the Arab world harnessing awqaf and endowments. The third objective is to transform Dubai into a source of global best practices for awqaf and endowments, while the fourth objective is to transform Dubai into a global center for research and expertise of awqaf and endowments.
The center utilises the Dubai Monitoring System for the social needs in the Arab world, a system created by the center for monitoring the most prominent social needs that can be met through awqaf and endowments. The system harnesses reliable global data sources to calculate and develop a heat-map of the most crucial needs in countries in the Arab world. The system data is updated periodically. MBRGCEC also provides consulting in this area to concerned local, regional and global institutions.
The centre has also developed a Best Practices Guide for awqaf and endowments that combines global best practices with practical examples of various international experiences in the creation and management of awqaf and endowment foundations. The guide explains formulations of strategic plans for organizations that operate in the field of awqaf and endowments customized based on the organizations’ needs, size and objectives. The guide also includes options for organizational structure, the general framework for setting priorities for projects to maximize social impact, investment management, performance indicators, as well as development operations. The centre provides necessary consultations for existing or yet-to-be-established awqaf and endowment institutions.