Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid announces one billion meals campaign for Ramadan 2022


Sarah Forster
  • English
  • Arabic

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, has announced a new campaign to begin at the start of Ramadan.

In a message shared online, Sheikh Mohammed said the initiative aims to donate one billion meals to the poor and hungry around the world.

It will run until the goal of raising enough money to fund one billion meals has been achieved.

“Brothers and sisters, today we announce the one billion meals campaign for the poor and the needy around the world,” Sheikh Mohammed wrote.

“The campaign will begin at the beginning of the holy month and will continue for the coming years until the goal is achieved.

“Its motto: 'A person who sleeps with a full stomach while his neighbour is hungry is not a believer.'

“Eight hundred million people suffer from hunger around the world. Our humanism and our religion push us to extend a helping hand.”

Food parcels are already being distributed in collaboration with the UN World Food Programme, the Food Banking Regional Network (FBRN), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment (MBRCH) and humanitarian organisations in targeted countries.

“The goal of this campaign is to deliver one billion meals and one billion humanitarian messages from the UAE to the world," Sheikh Mohammed said.

“The best charity is to [donate] food and the best of peoples are those who are thoughtful of others.

“Our country is preserved with the kindness that we offer to the needy.

“Our date is on the first of Ramadan, God willing, and we ask God to accept from us and from you our good deeds.”

During Ramadan 2021, the UAE set a target of raising enough donations for 100 million meals. This target was reached within 10 days.

Organised by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, the total was reached thanks to the generosity of 185,000 donors, which included individual people and companies, inside and outside the UAE.

The One Billion Meals campaign aims to secure food aid for vulnerable communities in 50 countries, supporting efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2 that aims to end hunger by 2030.

About 25,000 people die of hunger daily and of the 800 million malnourished people on Earth, 52 million are in the Mena region.

Last year's 100 Million Meals campaign provided support such as food parcels and instant smart vouchers to millions of people across four continents including in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Sudan, Yemen, Tunisia, Iraq, Egypt, Kosovo, Brazil, Benin, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Angola, Sierra Leone, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

The series of food campaigns started with the locally held 10 Million Meals that supported communities hit by Covid-19 across the UAE throughout Ramadan in 2020.

100 Million Meals campaign distributes more than 10 million meals in the UAE in 2021: in pictures

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WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Where to donate in the UAE

The Emirates Charity Portal

You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.

The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Al Noor Special Needs Centre

You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.

Beit Al Khair Society

Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.

Dar Al Ber Society

Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.

Dubai Cares

Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.

Emirates Airline Foundation

Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

Noor Dubai Foundation

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
  • Ban fruit juice and sodas
  • Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
  • Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
  • Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
  • Don’t eat dessert every day 
  • Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
  • Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
  • Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
  • Eat everything in moderation
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Name: Infinite8

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Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor

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The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Sole survivors
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  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Updated: March 10, 2022, 3:32 PM`