UAE-based Al Ansari Exchange, a top money transfer company, recently inked a Dh10 million ($2.72 million) agreement with Dubai Cares, a philanthropic organisation, to improve children’s access to primary education in developing countries.

Mohamed Ali Al Ansari, chairman and managing director of Al Ansari Exchange, said: “Education is the basic right of every child as it helps them become better citizens of tomorrow. This donation is part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda of giving back to the community in a positive way. We sincerely hope our donation will help underprivileged children in developing countries access quality primary education.”

The five-year partnership between the two organisations will benefit tens of thousands of beneficiaries in three Asian countries: India, Pakistan and Philippines. Each country will receive an investment of at least Dh3 million, which will support programs focused on education as well as health and nutrition.

All three developing economies are critical to achieving the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, especially in the sphere of education. However, they still face severe hurdles in making education accessible to a huge percentage of primary age children and increasing and sustaining their enrolment in schools.

Dubai Cares will invest the funds in designing and implementing programs that focus on key issues such as girls’ education, teacher training, improving core curriculum and school feeding.  

Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive officer, Dubai Cares said: “Dubai Cares is deeply grateful to Al Ansari Exchange for their generous investment in these three beneficiary countries. It is evident that global citizenship and social responsibility is a growing concern among the UAE community and is a significant aspect of the Al Ansari corporate culture.”

“In addition to contributing to local initiatives such as Sheikh Mohammed’s ‘Dress one million needy children campaign’, Al Ansari Exchange has also worked with organizations around the world on global humanitarian issues.

“This donation will make a lasting impact on the lives of children who do not have access to basic amenities such as primary education, hygienic living conditions, healthy food and clean water. We hope that the corporate sector in the UAE will take similar steps in support of humanitarian effort,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service