• The UAE has funded more than 100 million free meals in 20 countries across the region during Ramadan. Pictured are youngsters in Egypt. All photos by Wam
    The UAE has funded more than 100 million free meals in 20 countries across the region during Ramadan. Pictured are youngsters in Egypt. All photos by Wam
  • Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, organiser of the campaign, has tied up with international and local partners in each of the beneficiary countries to deliver the food parcels
    Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, organiser of the campaign, has tied up with international and local partners in each of the beneficiary countries to deliver the food parcels
  • Cash vouchers are being given to low-income communities in Palestine and in refugee camps in Jordan and Bangladesh
    Cash vouchers are being given to low-income communities in Palestine and in refugee camps in Jordan and Bangladesh
  • Staples such as rice, oil, beans, beans and flour are included in the food parcels, which is sufficient to prepare between 240 and 300 meals throughout Ramadan
    Staples such as rice, oil, beans, beans and flour are included in the food parcels, which is sufficient to prepare between 240 and 300 meals throughout Ramadan
  • Children smile for the camera after receiving a food packet.
    Children smile for the camera after receiving a food packet.
  • Low-income families, refugees, orphans and widows in Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan have started receiving food boxes.
    Low-income families, refugees, orphans and widows in Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan have started receiving food boxes.
  • A worker gives a food box to a lady
    A worker gives a food box to a lady
  • Food boxes being unloaded from a truck
    Food boxes being unloaded from a truck
  • Workers packing food boxes to be delivered to the needy during Ramadan
    Workers packing food boxes to be delivered to the needy during Ramadan

100 Million Meals: donations flood in as UAE approaches 90 per cent of target


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The UAE's humanitarian drive to deliver 100 million meals to needy people across the region is fast approaching its lofty goal.

More than Dh86.8 million has been donated since the 100 Million Meals campaign was launched on Sunday, April 11, beforeRamadan.

Every Dh1 donated helps to provide one meal in one of 20 countries across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said the initiative would offer crucial assistance to the 52 million people in the Middle East and North Africa region who are undernourished.

"We will work with humanitarian associations, companies, businessmen and philanthropists in the UAE to send 100 million messages of goodness and love to the needy and the poor in the month of goodness," he said on Twitter.

"Distributing food is the best thing to do to bring us close to the month of fasting."

A website set up for the campaign allows people to donate as little as Dh10 to fund 10 meals, rising to Dh500 or more.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, which organised the 100 Million Meals campaign, joinedinternational and local partners in each beneficiary country to deliver the parcels.

Poor families, refugees, orphans and widows in Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan started receiving ingredients that will help them to prepare meals throughout the holy month.

Donations poured in from far and wide, from businesses and high-profile figures to caring members of the public, to provide help where it is needed most.

How to serve up support

UAE residents and citizens can donate through the phone providers Etisalat and Du.

To donate, text the word “meal” to the following numbers:

1034 for a Dh10 contribution

1035 for a Dh50 contribution

1036 for a Dh100 contribution

1037 for a Dh300 contribution

1038 for a Dh500 contribution

Larger donations can be made via the campaign’s call centre on 800 4999.

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows

Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.

Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.

The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.

After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.

The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.

The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.

But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.

It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

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