Category: UAE Philanthropy

The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), the umbrella organisation for Dubai’s main charitable and humanitarian programmes, spent Dh2.3 billion in 2025. Its programmes reached 165 million people in 122 countries, 16 million more people and four more countries than in 2024. The results were announced in April 2026 at a board meeting chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

What is MBRGI?

MBRGI was formed in October 2015 to bring together more than 30 separate philanthropic initiatives under one roof. It is chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the Crown Prince of Dubai, as deputy chairman. Its well-known members include Dubai Cares, the Al Jalila Foundation, Noor Dubai and the Arab Reading Challenge.

Spending by pillar in 2025

• Healthcare and disease control: Dh872 million, the largest share, supporting more than 396,000 people.
• Humanitarian aid and relief: over Dh625 million, reaching more than 53 million people.
• Spreading education and knowledge: Dh419 million, reaching 106 million people.
• Innovation and entrepreneurship: Dh239 million, benefiting about 1.4 million people.
• Empowering communities: more than Dh187 million, reaching about 3.9 million people.

Key programmes

Fathers’ Endowment: a Ramadan campaign to fund healthcare for those who cannot afford it raised Dh3.72 billion, almost four times its Dh1 billion target, from more than 277,000 contributors.

Al Jalila Foundation: its A’awen programme paid for the treatment of 3,605 patients, including 816 children, at a cost of about Dh143 million.

Food and relief: the 1 Billion Meals initiative was completed in July 2025 after delivering meals in 65 countries. Dubai Humanitarian sent 789 tonnes of aid to 2.8 million people in Palestine, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and a Dh37 million joint project with the WHO targets health needs in Gaza and the West Bank.

Education: the ninth Arab Reading Challenge attracted more than 32 million students from 50 countries, and the Digital School expanded to 39 countries with over 800,000 students.

Volunteers

MBRGI reported 185,670 volunteers in 2025, up from 171,892 the year before, alongside 990 staff.

Important: MBRGI does not take applications for cash help through social media. Any page claiming to register people for “Sheikh Mohammed’s grant” is not official.

Sources

Khaleej Times and Gulf News (25 April 2026); Dubai Media Office; MBRGI Year in Review 2025.

Featured image: representational stock photo from Pexels. It does not show any person named in this article.

Dubai Cares is a UAE-based global philanthropic organisation focused on education, and part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives. In February 2026 it reported that it had disbursed AED1.27 billion (about US$346 million) in grants since its launch in 2007, reaching 117 million people in 60 developing countries.

How it works

Dubai Cares does not run schools itself. It funds programmes delivered by 143 partner organisations, from UN agencies to local NGOs. Its portfolio includes 264 programmes, 48 advocacy initiatives and 40 research programmes.

Results since 2007

• 61.7 million children dewormed, so that illness does not keep them out of school.
• Nearly 5 million schoolchildren given nutritious school meals.
• More than 5 million teachers trained.
• 7.1 million young children enrolled in early childhood education.
• 4.5 million people given access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene.
• 4.6 million children and young people supported to keep learning during emergencies.
• 18.6 million girls and women reached by empowerment programmes.
• 788,467 young people placed in vocational training.

Highlights from 2025

In 2025 Dubai Cares reached 761,975 people in Lebanon and Gaza. Through its “Adopt a School” scheme it built two primary schools each in Nepal and Senegal, and its “Adopt a Library” project opened six inclusive libraries in Bihar and Jharkhand, India, serving more than 19,700 children and educators. Its “Taste of Giving” campaign with 36 restaurants funded 250,000 school meals.

Can you get help from Dubai Cares?

Dubai Cares funds organisations and programmes, not individuals. It does not give scholarships, cash or marriage support to individuals through online forms. If you see an advert saying otherwise, treat it as a scam.

Sources

Dubai Cares press release (16 February 2026); Emirates News Agency (WAM).

Featured image: representational stock photo from Pexels. It does not show any person named in this article.

Ramadan is the busiest season for charity in the Gulf, and in recent years Dubai has used it to launch very large public campaigns. Two of the best known are the 1 Billion Meals initiative and the Fathers’ Endowment, both part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI).

1 Billion Meals

The 1 Billion Meals initiative grew out of earlier Ramadan food campaigns. The idea was simple: individuals, companies and institutions in the UAE donate, and the money is used to deliver food parcels and meals to vulnerable people abroad through partners such as the UN World Food Programme and local relief groups.

According to MBRGI’s 2025 results, the initiative was completed in July 2025, having delivered meals in 65 countries. Its work continues through a permanent endowment model, where donations are invested and the returns fund food support year after year.

The Fathers’ Endowment

Launched for Ramadan 2025, the Fathers’ Endowment set out to raise Dh1 billion to create a fund for medical treatment for people who cannot afford it. It ended up raising Dh3.72 billion from more than 277,000 contributors, almost four times its target.

Why the endowment model matters

An endowment (known in Islamic tradition as a waqf) keeps the original donation invested and spends only the income. This gives charities a steady, predictable source of money instead of depending on a single campaign. Saudi Arabia uses the same idea in its Ehsan Waqf Fund.

How people actually donate

Donations to these campaigns are made only through official channels: the campaign’s own website, SMS short codes announced by the UAE government, and bank transfers to named accounts. These campaigns collect money — they never ask the public to pay a fee to receive help.

Sources

Khaleej Times (25 April 2026); MBRGI Year in Review 2025; Dubai Media Office.

Featured image: representational stock photo from Pexels. It does not show any person named in this article.