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29 March 2024

Arab Media Forum and Dubai Cares launch ‘We Write for Syrian Refugees’ initiative

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By Staff

Dubai Press Club (DPC), the organiser of the 16th Arab Media Forum (AMF), today, announced it has joined hands with Dubai Cares, a member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, to launch the ‘We Write for Syrian Children’ initiative. The initiative will see a donation drive during the two days of the Forum to support access to education for Syrian refugee children.

Themed ‘Civil Dialogue’, this year’s Arab Media Forum will be held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on 1st and 2nd May, 2017, at Madinat Jumeirah.

The ‘We Write for Syrian Children’ initiative aims to help educate Syrian refugee children in refugee camps and improve their access to education. According to data provided by the United Nations, there are more than 1.5 million school-age refugee children in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, half of whom receive formal education, whereas 180,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17 are not enrolled in schools.

Those who wish to donate to support the education of Syrian refugee children can visit the Dubai Cares platform located in the Media Walk area and, using an iPad device, write the donor’s name and select the name of an ancient civilization, following which, the donor’s name will be rewritten in the ancient alphabet of the selected civilization. Upon pressing the ‘donate ‘button the process is completed and the donation is registered.

The Organising Committee of the Arab Media Forum will pay the donation amount, which will reflect the number of names written.

President of Dubai Press Club (DPC) and Chairperson of AMF Organising Committee Her Excellency Mona Ghanem Al Marri expressed her appreciation for this charity drive and the philanthropic efforts of Dubai Cares. She commended its Endeavour to improve children's access to quality primary education in refugee camps and developing countries alike.

“The gift of education gives children, regardless of where they live, the best start in life; this way, a nation can achieve prosperity and progress,” she said. “I am confident that the initiative will get the support needed from all the guests of AMF,” she added.

“Every year, we make sure that AMF contributes positively to transforming the lives of people. This year, however, we thought of creating value out of the participation of more than 3,000 people at AMF, which is in line with the ‘Year of Giving’ initiative, aimed at cementing the UAE’s position as the world’s leading humanitarian donor,” Al Marri said.

CEO of Dubai Cares Tariq Al Gurg said that the organization takes pride in collaborating with AMF to launch a humanitarian initiative aimed at helping thousands of Syrian refugee children get access to education. He expressed the hope that all participants of AMF will support this noble cause that will give Syrian refugee children the opportunity to live a happy life. “Through your donations, we will be able to improve the reading, math and social-emotional outcomes for the highly vulnerable Syrian refugee children aged 6-16; strengthen the capacity of teachers in learning in a healing classroom; and improve parent engagement in children’s learning and protection.

Member of the Organising Committee of the Arab Media Forum (AMF) Shaima Al Suwaidi said that the initiative will support Dubai Cares ‘drive to mobilize efforts to develop the education sector in developing countries, with a focus on improving primary education and learning outcomes.

Al Suwaidi noted that despite the concerted efforts of the international community in the field of education, about 263 million children and youth are out of school, according to a UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) report; this calls for more support to create long-lasting improvement in the lives of children. Therefore, the AMF was keen to fund the ‘We Write for Syrian Children’ campaign, which is a creative and praiseworthy initiative to support the plan to improve access to education for Syrian refugee children.