At a glance: United Arab Emirates

UNICEF and Dubai Cares support quality education to break the cycle of poverty

© A’Sidrah Public Affairs/2007

As part the Dubai Cares campaign, HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum visited a school Djibouti in October 2007 to highlight children’s struggle for basic education.

NEW YORK, USA, 19 February 2008 – “If we want to champion prosperity and progress, we cannot ignore poverty,” His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, has said. “We should therefore emphasize the role of education as the most powerful weapon in breaking the vicious circle of poverty.”

In the spirit of that statement, UNICEF has joined forces with the Gulf charity Dubai Cares to support education programmes in Africa, Eastern Europe, South Asia and the Middle East.

Announced today in New York and Dubai, the new partnership is part of a campaign by Dubai Cares to bring education to 1 million children in developing countries and help contribute towards the achievement of Millennium Development Goal 2 – universal primary education – by 2015. Dubai Cares was launched in September of last year.

Visit to schools in Djibouti

HH Sheikh Mohammed has defined specific areas of the Dubai Cares campaign that will be led by his sons and daughters.

One son, HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, travelled to Djibouti in October to highlight children’s struggle for basic education. HH Sheikh Ahmed and his delegation visited Hadj Dideh and Quartier 7 Bis primary schools, where students welcomed them with song and dance, and teachers gave them a tour of the facilities. 

Built in 1976, the schools showed an obvious need for new equipment, rehabilitation and basic requirements such as running water and sanitation facilities – exactly the kinds of improvements that UNICEF and Dubai Cares aim to provide worldwide, in order to bolster the quality of education and achieve gender equality in schooling.