AMAF launches ‘Well of Hope’ Endowment

To support the ‘Well of Hope’ initiative, the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) launched an independent endowment with an annual investment of Dhs18.6 million to implement sustainable water-supplying projects in developing countries.

The AMAF’s ‘Well of Hope’ endowment will dedicate its annual proceeds to providing clean water to over 600,000 people with scarce water resources and communities affected by natural disasters across the world.

The endowment was launched in response to the humanitarian competition that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, had earlier launched, inviting government entities to contribute to providing clean water to marginalised and vulnerable communities.

Urgent global need

Ali Al Mutawa, Secretary General of AMAF, said the ‘Well of Hope’ contest responds to an urgent global need to ensure good health and well-being of communities. “Water is the essence of life, especially in areas with no access to clean water where people struggle to lead healthy lives. The ‘Well of Hope’ endowment is established to support the humanitarian initiative in responding to the global pressing issue of water scarcity and spreading hope among communities.”

Al Mutawa added that the main objective behind the endowment is ensuring sustainability. “The endowment’s Dhs18.6 million proceeds, set to benefit 600,000 people across the world, aims to reach the largest number of beneficiaries, especially in line with the Year of Tolerance,” said Al Mutawa. He noted that the endowment seeks to achieve article 9 of the fifty-year charter that pledges an annual growth in philanthropy in parallel with the UAE’s business development.

 Saeed Al Eter, Assistant Secretary General of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), said AMAF’s ‘Well of Hope’ endowment launch “represents a sustainable form of funding to provide clean water to people in need.”

Al Eter added that the innovative endowment goes beyond one-time donations to establishing sustainable funding for water-supplying projects in developing countries, achieving the ‘Well of Hope’ competition’s objectives to inspire new innovative ways of spreading hope and instilling the culture of giving in societies.

The endowment, he said, supports the contest’s commitment to achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in hope making and ensuring a better livelihood to communities in need.

Competing for good

Participating entities across the UAE have been competing to pump the largest amount of water into a mobile virtual interactive pumping device. MBRGI will donate the total amounts of water pumped into the machine to people living in remote less fortunate societies with no access to clean water.  

Employees have so far pumped 148,000 litres of water since the competition’s launch.  

In support of the ‘Well of Hope’ competition, some entities pledged to dig wells in areas with scarce water resources including Dubai Police that announced its commitment to dig 25 wells, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) to dig 20 wells and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to dig 10 wells in 10 countries. Other entities such as Dubai Police partnered with non-profit organizations to provide safe drinking water through different projects including water networks and purification plants.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) Launched in 2015, MBRGI seeks to unify efforts and extend the positive impact of 33 humanitarian and developmental initiatives and entities launched and supported by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum over the last 20 years. MBRGI’s 33 entities implement over 1,400 humanitarian initiatives and projects that benefit over 130 million people across the world.