DUBAI: On World Refugee Day, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Emirati businessman and philanthropist, announced the Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund, a new 100M AED ($27 million) initiative to benefit 5,000 children and youth over 3 years.
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair said: “I established this fund because I believe that philanthropists have a role in helping to address one of the most acute challenges of our region: lack of education opportunities for young people who need it the most.”
The Fund will award grants to support secondary, vocational and tertiary education programs for refugee youth in Jordan and Lebanon. It will also support children of families who due to wars and disasters in their home countries, temporarily reside in the UAE but are unable to afford school fees. The first round of grants will be announced prior to the start of the new school year.
Applauding this initiative, Filippo Grande, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said: “We welcome the generous commitment by Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair. The Fund highlights the importance of the Arab world’s business community in creating a positive impact through supporting the region’s displaced communities.”
Commenting on the initiative, Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education said: “There can be no better investment in the future of the Arab region than to support the education of the most vulnerable — refugee children and youth.”
The AbdulAziz Refugee Education Fund will be administered by the Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education. Founded in 2015 and based in Dubai, it is the largest privately funded foundation in the Arab world focused exclusively on education. It aims to improve access to quality education for high-achieving, underserved Emirati and Arab youth. Abdulla Al Ghurair pledged one third of his wealth to the Foundation and set out a target of reaching 15,000 youth over 10 years valued at over $1 billion.
