Today's Edition
Khaled Al Khawaldeh (Abu Dhabi)
The Authority of Social Contribution, Ma’an, has announced that they had raised Dh91.15 million for over 57 social good projects, impacting 161,059 people in 2023.
At an event held at the Saadiyat Jumeirah Hotel on Thursday, the government authority, which is tasked with progressing Abu Dhabi’s SDG goals through an array of programmes across the emirate, pledged to continue and expand their work, as well as their contributor base.
“We’ve been working to create a cohesive society. We have around 200 nationalities in the Emirates, and we’re trying to create that strong fabric among people because we want community members to support the other community members,” H.E. Salama Al Ameemi, Director General of Ma’an told Aletihad following the event.
“This event’s purpose is basically to increase the trust in the social contribution authority, in particular from the contributors. We want to say that by trusting us or supporting us financially as a community member or an organisation, you can achieve the positive impact on the vulnerable groups that we are targeting.”
Of the Dh91.15 million collected from various contributors across civic and commercial society, Dh12.7 million went to environmental and infrastructure projects, with Dh41.1 million going to social ones, Dh9.3 million to education and Dh28.05 million going to health-related projects.
One of the projects highlighted by Salama, and by the event attendees, was a pop-up dentist clinic that was deployed at labour camps within the Emirate. Considering the high cost of dental care in the UAE, the clinic proved massively popular and beneficial.
“Financial support came from the community members to support these workers. There were around 1,100 beneficiaries from that project. That’s a simple example of how we can come together to support other members of the community,” she said.
Salama highlighted the growing role of corporate and organisational contributions, explaining that the increased emphasis on Corporate Social Responsibility is good, but that businesses often needed guidance on how to effectively spend their budgets.
“There are a lot of organisations who want to know what the social priorities are in order to support them. A lot of the time their effort is scattered and sometimes they go for marketing or sponsorship projects that do not really help the need or the priority of the community,” she explained.
“So, what we do is we work with Department of Community Development to know what the social priorities are, and who the vulnerable groups are that need to be supported. When they approach us, we have the awareness to help them with who to support.”
There are three main ways to participate with Ma’an, including contributing financially or through volunteering one’s time and specialisation. The third option is to set up a non-profit with a clear social or philanthropic purpose, in which case the Authority will assist with partnerships and funding.
“If you’re a specialised doctor, for example, we have a centre for dialysis, and if you wanted to participate to support those people who do dialysis, then we would take you as a volunteer or you can come with an idea of an organisation or project,” she said.
“That idea could be a non-profit organisation, or it could be as social enterprise. To establish that organisation, we will support you, give the seed money, give you a lot of enablers, with the purpose to provide a service to the community.”
