Professional Documents
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The power
of giving
Charity is about changing lives, even that of the giver. At the upper end of philanthropy’s spectrum,
you can find projects that will absorb your entire year’s budget. And you can travel to see the
smiles on the faces that benefit from your benevolence – knowing with complete transparence
how your charity dirham is being used
text Shalini Seth
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Hisham, WFP
Her Royal Highness Princess Haya bint Al Hussein,
WFP’s Goodwill Ambassador, on a visit to Malawi
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“I still have a jet-setting the UAE, the charity is hard at work. A hoarding campaign,
for instance allows a company to divert some of its advertising
lifestyle. I call it a good day spend in buying space on a billboard. Another fund-raiser from
Trillion for Lebanon organised a charity sale of high-end brands
if I have breakfast in Tanzania, which included clothes, perfumes and electronics. For the
average shopper, the high of getting a good deal was offset by the
lunched in Rwanda and dined fact that the money goes towards charity. It is almost as if, you
cannot help but give. “Our focus was long-term planning rather
in Nairobi. And I still make than relief work. So we have planned 40 fund-raising events to
millions. Only, it is for other suit different people,” says spokesperson Hassan Awada.
Since most donors are likely to respond to an occasion,
people. It is my duty to make organisations gear for that. For instance, during Ramadan, when
charity tops most people’s list of things to do, organisations in
money now” the region focus on awareness-building programmes. The UAE’s
Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department gets ready
for you with clear expectations. The logic is simple. Barbara to announce lists of charities approved by it and educates people
Castek, CEO of Dubai Aid and Humanitarian City (DHAC) about procedures of holding a charity event.
says: “We feel that if organisations provide a proper vehicle to “The difference during Ramadan is that people approach you
the donor, aid will be forthcoming. Money will come.” for giving. They are looking for someone… A lot of people would
And it does. A campaign called Trillion for Lebanon like to donate. It is our job to show them how,” Habib says.
registered itself as a non-profit making organisation this July to Alzubaidi says, “Last year during Ramadan, we had sent more
create fundraising campaigns for Lebanon. A committee of 22, than $200,000 from Qatar to Palestine. Even if we do not have a
with 200 members got together to create different fund-raising project in the country you want to donate in, we will put you in
campaigns to making giving easier. Armed with an approval touch with others who do, or get a report within two days.”
from Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department and DHAC is planning a programme for donors soon. “People want
the money eventually going to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid to diversify aid. In about a year, we will have a donor assistance
Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Foundation, which is department where people can discreetly check for projects, sort
in charge of controlling and distributing aid to Lebanon from them by country gender and age,” says Castek.
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Charity programmes are themed. During festival, the mood
can be decidedly celebratory. “Around Ramadan and Christmas
we once started a project called Donate a Dessert. The price of
your dessert can feed a child for one month,” she says.
On the other hand, emergencies, compelling images and
slogans, backed with information about a world in need can
always nudge a response. When there is a crisis, such as Lebanon,
the world opens up its hearts and coffers. Aid comes pouring
in. Amounts get larger and larger and everyone wants to
be part of the solution. With Lebanon in focus, UAE
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan
announced the disbursal of $20m for medical
supplies and urgent relief materials. Tecom Investments
followed up their initial “dirham for dirham” effort with a
community campaign in cooperation with the UAE Red
Crescent Society (RCS).
Abdullatif Almulla, Chief Executive Officer, Tecom
Investments, says: “In the dirham for dirham initiative. The staff
contribution of AED46,970 was doubled by the management to
take the total to AED93,940. The amount has been wired to the
UAE Red Crescent’s bank account.”
Jordan’s Queen Rania is actively involved in philanthropy
The UAE Chapter of Young Arab Leaders, a network of
men and women who have reached unprecedented levels of
success at relatively young ages, aligned themselves with the Souq.com, the Middle East’s leading auction website, is
UAE Lebanese Friendship Committee and gathered more than hosting charity auctions for items donated by its members in
130 tonnes of relief material. Items included food and canned the UAE and Jordan. “We will also arrange to pick up the item
children’s milk in addition to blankets, tents and other basic that you want to auction from any location that you specify. The
needs to support the displaced people. company will also waive its fees,” a spokesperson says. >
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“Around Ramadan and old victim of Israeli bombing, who kept asking for her father
while lying on a hospital bed.
Christmas we once started But what next?
Peter Dalglish
Peter Dalglish was a newly appointed
lawyer for a top law firm in Canada
‘I wish I was doing when he had what he calls “a near-life
experience”.
what you do’ “I went to Ethiopia with the intention
of staying two weeks to distribute food
and medical supplies. These two weeks
changed my perspective on life — I
realised that the world probably did not
need another lawyer, so I returned to
Canada and handed in my resignation.”
Today, more than 20 years later, the
founder of Street Kids International and
many other foundations says his day job
is “the best I could have ever asked for
– I teach a weekly class as a volunteer at
the Shree Mangal Dvip Buddhist School
that educates children of poor, low-caste
Nepalese in Kathmandu, Nepal. In order
to put food on the table for my family,
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where the money was being used. When Her Royal Highness
Princess Haya bint Al Hussein joined WFP as a Goodwill
Ambassador, media flocked to see her interacting with people
for whom starvation is a way of life. Rock star and anti-poverty
campaigner Sir Bob Geldof is huge support for the ones who are
fighting the same battle.
“When we take any group of donors to the field, we can
invite the media, so others can read about it, see it on TV.
When we go somewhere, we can bring pictures with us
– so others and we know these are not only pictures, these are
true things,” Habib says.
During the Lebanon telethon in Dubai, Arab celebrities
appealed for donations on air, including Egyptian actors Adel
Imam, Yusra, Hanan Turk and Diana Haddad, UAE singers
Hussain Jasmi and Mohammad Al Mazem, as well as Middle
East rally champion Mohammad bin Sulayem.
When Sama Dubai TV ran an opinion poll, Queen Rania of
Jordan made an appearance. “Your children are our children; Princess Haya in the field
your wounds are our wounds; your house is our house. Let’s work
together to take the child back to his school, the farmer to his
farm, and the family back to its home,” she said. with WFP for a while when I first went on the field. Nothing
For the ones who have been there, nothing, they say, compares to going and seeing for yourself. People are actually
can take away the poignancy of being face-to-face suffering, it is not just something you see on TV,” Habib says.
with the person to whom you are giving the next meal. When the givers travel to witness the fruits of their giving, it
Even regulars in the world of charity are moved. “I was working can lead to more. “When people go on the field they become >
I travel the world advising schools a true difference to children around the born into wealthy families. It is up to me,
and companies on community service, globe,” Dalglish says. and others like me, to show them that
leadership and social justice. I am also And being a lawyer – even a former there is a different path in life than that
the senior advisor in Nepal to the Swiss lawyer – means he can certainly spread of a corner office and a BMW. Even if
NGO [non-governmental organisation] the word. In Dubai, he visited schools run my volunteers do not become full-time
Terres de Hommes on child labour, child by Beacon Education to talk about his advocates, at least I have exposed them
soldiers and street children,” he says, gap-year project. “It is offered to students to the realities of life.
listing the many offices he holds. transitioning from secondary school to “It does not have to be a year, there are
And, of course, he is the envy of his university. Many students from all over many students from top schools around
entire peer group and the pride of his the world take a year off during this time, the world that take one or two months
parents. “I don’t think a week goes by to do something ‘different’, something over their summer holidays,” he says.
without a friend’s email saying, ‘I wish I they would most likely not have the What about the future? “I have an
was doing what you do’. The great thing opportunity to do again. The schools entire team who support my foundations
now is that my friends, many of whom I work with offer gap-year students the based in Canada while I am in Nepal.
are extremely wealthy, call me wanting opportunity to truly give back and to They are self-sustaining, and do not need
to donate their money to an important work one-on-one with impoverished my constant attention. I am not worried
cause. I use their money and they use my students. The gap-year students live and about the fate of my work at the various
connections with various organisations work at the schools where they receive schools in Kathmandu and Bangkok. I
to help the world’s poorest people – it is full board,” he says. have worked with so many students and
a great partnership. Being wealthy is not always an adults over the years that there is no
“My parents are thrilled because they advantage, according to Dalglish. doubt that I have inspired at least one
know I am so happy and that I am making “These kids cannot help that they were person to continue my work.”
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“We tell all our donors to how the money was spent,” Castek says. It benefits both. “It
works both ways. We like to tell people that the first food they
track the donation. We give may have had in weeks comes, if not from a particular individual,
then from, say, the people of Dubai. It is a human bond, to be
them an audited report on able to come to another’s aid,” says Habib.
On the other hand, it keeps the organisations accountable.
beneficiaries Then you can “We owe it to the donor to tell them where the money is
going. We give them a report on beneficiaries. It is all a
see the results.” transparent procedure. We tell all our donors that your donation
should be registered. Track your donation. Then you can see
even more supportive. The government of Saudi Arabia started the results,” she says.
with one country. Now they are in the Horn of Africa, in Lebanon, Agencies will tell you in fils-specific terms and percentages
in Palestine… When they tour it, they believe in it more and about your donation. WFP proudly says that it uses only seven
more. People are really in need. And we are not just providing per cent of what you give for administration, while UNOPS sets
food but building their future as well – building schools, building their expenditure at between five and six per cent.
roads. You can choose which country to support, which project. “All our acitivities are for charity. If there is any money needed
We know money is always needed,” Habib says. for administration our steering committee members donate it.
“We only talk about the donation if there is an approval from So if we have raised two million dollars from an event, all of it
the donor. And it is not to brag but to give an example. It shows goes to the fund,” says Awada.
others how to show support. Many people who give money also A word of caution, though. “There is an error in oversimplifying
like to keep it confidential. We try to tell them sometimes that it overheads. Sometimes you might think that it is being spent
is not about showing off but about transparency. It is a religious on administration. But if you need to open a school in an area
belief that you do not brag about what you give. And it is a where there are no roads to deliver the bricks, the costs will go
personal thing. Sometimes they don’t want people to know, it is up. The best answer is to be involved in the process. It is about
about a conviction to help,” she says. being able to decide according to the situation,” Habib adds.
And the involvement is not only monetary. It is about
TRANSPARENT GIVING communication. “You can give expertise and resources. For
All this talk also helps another cause – it answers all instance, if we have a project for opening a school, we might
questions about the funds while helping people understand take help from the donor in finding experts who can design
what actually goes on. the curriculum. If that is their area of expertise, they would
“The organisations have to tell what goes into their overheads immediately be able to solve the problem,” Alzubaidi says.
so the donor is clear. Not only is that a criteria for our department In the world of good deeds, there is a lot of give and take,
but the donor can also require proof and an audited report about on both sides. n
Dubai Aid and Humanitarian City includes 30 international non-governmental organisations supporting a variety of humanitarian causes ranging
from emergency aid and relief to people with special needs, education, women and children.
These organisations also accept donations. For information about donation opportunities with DAHC-registered charities, contact the donor
assistance department on +971-4-3680709.
The charities licensed by the UAE’s Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department for fundraising events are:
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