At the heart of the massive Dubai Cares campaign, one central issue motivated the unprecedented level
of support - the primary education of one million children in developing countries
With more than Dh1 billion raised by young and old, corporations and individuals, the Dubai Cares education-initiative was characterised as a "brilliant success" by the United Nations.
The 'sheer magnitude' of support for the campaign, according to organisers, even warranted the two-week extension to enable those who wanted to organise additional events or donate more funds to do so.
Launched on September 19 by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, community organisations, sports clubs, schools, businesses, philanthropists and individuals took up the Dubai Cares challenge.
Yet, at the heart of this massive campaign one central issue motivated the unprecedented level of support - the primary education of one million children in developing countries.
"If we want to champion prosperity and progress, we cannot ignore poverty. We should therefore emphasise the role of education as the most powerful weapon in breaking the vicious circle of poverty," Shaikh Mohammad said at the launch.
"Those who are deprived of education will inevitably fall behind and dwell in a shadow-land. They will never know the true essence of their religion, nor learn its valuable teachings. They will always be dependent on others and face the prospect of becoming burdens on themselves, their societies and the whole world."
Shaikh Mohammad's own children spearheaded the initiative and in their capacity as Dubai Cares ambassadors travelled abroad to see for themselves the state of education in places such as the Comoros Islands, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Djibouti.
According to a top UN Children's Fund (Unicef) official, today over six million children in the Arab world alone are currently not enrolled in primary education.
Dr. Malak Zaalouk, Unicef's regional education advisor, tells Gulf News that although education is one of the fundamental rights of a child, over 100 million children worldwide do not have access to primary education. More than 55 per cent of these children are girls who end up becoming vulnerable to poverty, hunger, violence, abuse and exploitation.
"There are numerous economic and other reasons to make sure that children receive an education, but fundamentally it is a child's right. It's like breathing and eating - a basic right," she says.
"We should not stop at simply providing education - it is important to have a strategic vision on how to improve quality as well."
With greater awareness about the importance of education worldwide, an aim of Dubai Cares, Dr. Malak highlighted the need for people to understand that entire communities have to be on board for education efforts to really be effective.
With education a key to breaking the cycle of poverty, one of the main reasons that children are unable to attend school is because of limited resources, she says.
Some of the poorest nations in the region, including Djibouti, Yemen and Sudan, are among the countries with the highest numbers of children not attending schools.
According to Unicef, in Djibouti, only 30 per cent of girls go to primary school and 41 per cent in Yemen.
Early on in the campaign, money was pledged to several countries to fund initial projects including building or renovating school facilities, distributing school supplies and providing support to teachers.
Ten thousand young Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon were among the first Dubai Cares beneficiaries, with a $1 million (about Dh3.67 million) pledge going towards the United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).
Over half of the children were among those displaced during three months of fierce clashes in Nahr El Bared camp between the Lebanese Army and the Fatah Al Islam group, which came to an end in September.
The donation covered a large part of the emergency educational needs of Nahr Al Bared's children, according to UNRWA, as well as counselling for those traumatised by the violence.
"As a result of the displacement of people in Nahr El Bared, children have had to double-up in schools. In some classes there are now 40 to 50 children; three to a desk," says Peter Ford, Representative of the UNRWA's Commissioner General.
"Many of the children lost their family homes and have been forced into over-crowded conditions, even seeking shelter in schools in other camps."
Following a visit by Shaikha Manal Bint Mohammad Al Maktoum, Yemen was identified as another country to receive support through the campaign.
According to Fadel Ali Naqeeb, Cultural Adviser at the Yemeni Embassy in Abu Dhabi, child labour and dropout rates are among the biggest problems for the education system.
"Drop out rates are especially huge in the rural areas and the outskirts of the cities. Around 30 per cent of children are not in school. Of course more girls are not in school than boys, because there is also not enough awareness to educate people in general, let alone girls whose traditional role is still seen as a future wife and mother," he says.
As part of the wide-reaching initiative, Dubai's own schoolchildren took up the challenge of raising funds to get young people in poorer countries into school, in a campaign spearheaded by Shaikh Mayed Bin Mohammad Al Maktoum.
Despite never having travelled to a developing country, Emirati student Mariam Al Jarman is aware that many children do not have the same opportunities as she and her classmates.
A student at Al Raya School in Dubai, Mariam was one of the many young people on hand at the launch of the Dubai Cares School Campaign, which got children involved in the effort to support other children living in less fortunate circumstances.
"Knowledge is important and I want to help people who don't go to school to improve their learning," she tells Gulf News.
Similarly, Huda Walid, a 12th grader from Al Sufouh School says: "We really want to do something special. We know it is important to go to school and want others to be happy and able to pursue an education as well."
