UAE’s ‘1 Billion Meals’ Ramadan food aid receives Dh247 million in a week
Campaign receives donations from 13,220 individuals, businesses, and public sector
Dubai: The ‘1 Billion Meals Endowment’ campaign launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, with the aim of launching the largest Ramadan sustainable food aid endowment fund, has so far recorded Dh247 million, one week after its launch.
The campaign received donations from 13,220 major contributors, including individuals, businesses and public and private sector players. Among those, 13,195 contributors donated via smart channels.
Organised by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, the campaign aims to create sustainable solutions and implement effective programmes to fight and eradicate hunger, and support vulnerable groups around the world.
‘Remarkable response’
Mohammad Al Gergawi, Secretary-General of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, said: “The 1 Billion Meals Endowment campaign reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for sustaining charitable efforts, opening the door for everyone hoping to make a lasting impact. On the other hand, the remarkable response we see across the UAE community is a reflection of its long-held values of giving and generosity, and a testament of its moral sense of responsibility towards the global efforts to eradicate hunger around the world.”
He added: “The campaign paves the way for a new concept of charitable work that is sustainable and impactful in a way that meets the specific needs of underprivileged populations. The food aid endowment fund created under the campaign is a key milestone in UAE’s humanitarian efforts.
“Our community’s race to contribute... is not new... We are confident that the next days will see more contributions to the endowment fund.”
Donation channels
The campaign continues to welcome donations across five main channels:
• the campaign’s website
• a dedicated call centre via the toll free number 800 9999.
• bank transfers in the UAE Dirham to the campaign bank account number with Emirates NBD (AE30 0260 0010 1533 3439 802).
• SMS option to donate Dh1 daily through a monthly subscription, by sending the word “Meal” to 1020 for du users, or to 1110 for Etisalat by e& users.
• DubaiNow app by clicking on the ‘Donations’ tab.
Successful series
The 1 Billion Meals Endowment’ campaign builds upon the success of previous food aid campaigns launched under directives of Sheikh Mohammed over the past three years, starting in Ramadan of 2020 with ‘10 Million Meals’, which was the first and largest show of solidarity of its kind, supporting victims of the COVID-19 pandemic within the UAE.
This was followed by the ‘100 Million Meals’ campaign in 2021, the largest regional food support campaign spanning 20 countries in the Arab region, Africa and Asia.
Last year’s ‘One Billion Meals’ was the largest on its kind regionally, providing 1 billion meals in 50 countries.