BEIRUT, LEBANON: 10 Sep 2018: Majid Al Futtaim, the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have announced their partnership to help send one million children to school by 2020. The two parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims at providing quality education opportunities for the most vulnerable and marginalized children across the MENA region, starting with 200,000 direct beneficiaries which will include children, parents and teachers.
Aligned to Majid Al Futtaim’s socio-economic sustainability goal, ‘Transforming Lives’ and the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4), the partnership will focus on improving access to integrated and inclusive early childhood development programs. This will result in improved child-friendly education, safe learning environments, promoting life skills and citizenship education for children in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon and United Arab Emirates.
The MoU was signed by Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer, Majid Al Futtaim – Holding and Shahida Azfar, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF, in a signing ceremony held at Majid Al Futtaim headquarters in Dubai.
Despite the decreasing number of out-of-school children in the MENA region, which has dropped by over 18% since 2008, bringing hope and new opportunities to millions, the region still has nearly 22 million children who are either out of school or at risk of dropping out. These children include the most vulnerable, including girls who live in rural areas and those from minority communities.
“We are extremely proud to partner with UNICEF to enhance the lives of one million children across the region. Majid Al Futtaim, like other private sector organisations, has a unique opportunity and an obligation to play a meaningful role in providing access to early learning opportunities and a quality education,” said Alain Bejjani, Chief Executive Officer of Majid Al Futtaim – Holding. “As an organisation that puts people at its heart, we believe public-private partnerships are critical to the future success and well-being of local communities, where we work to create the future leaders of tomorrow.”
“Millions of children are not in school because of poverty and lack of services. These include children on the move who have been forced out of their homes to seek safety for their lives. Majid Al Futtaim’s extensive network through its partners, employees and customers will enable more people to help disadvantaged children get access to quality, inclusive and safe learning environments so that no child is left behind,” said Eltayeb Adam, Gulf Area Office Representative, UNICEF.
The partnership will rollout several awareness campaigns to educate the public on how to contribute to a reduction in the number of out-of-school children as well as raising funds through
Majid Al Futtaim’s assets in six countries – Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Lebanon and United Arab Emirates. Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Malls recently launched an awareness campaign encouraging visitors to share their moments across social media platforms and Majid Al Futtaim will donate AED 1 to send children to school with every post. VOX Cinemas has already raised over AED 300,000 (close to USD $100,000) from 100,000 unique customers across its different locations.
About Majid Al Futtaim
Founded in 1992, Majid Al Futtaim is the leading shopping mall, communities, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
A remarkable business success story, Majid Al Futtaim started from one man’s vision to transform the face of shopping, entertainment and leisure to ‘create great moments for everyone, every day’. It has since grown into one of the United Arab Emirates’ most respected and successful businesses spanning 15 international markets, employing more than 43,000 people, and obtaining the highest credit rating (BBB) among privately-held corporates in the region.
Majid Al Futtaim owns and operates 23 shopping malls, 13 hotels and four mixed-use communities, with further developments underway in the region. The shopping malls portfolio includes Mall of the Emirates, Mall of Egypt, City Centre malls, My City Centre neighbourhood centres, and four community malls which are in joint venture with the Government of Sharjah. The Company is the exclusive franchisee for Carrefour in 38 markets across the Middle East, Africa and Asia, and operates a portfolio of 243 outlets in 14 countries.
Majid Al Futtaim operates 331 VOX Cinema screens and 37 Magic Planet family entertainment centres across the region. In addition to iconic leisure and entertainment facilities such as Ski Dubai, Orbi Dubai and Ski Egypt, among others. The Company is parent to the consumer finance company ‘Najm’, and a Fashion and Home retail business representing international brands such as Abercrombie & Fitch, AllSaints, lululemon athletica, Crate & Barrel and Maison du Monde. In addition, Majid Al Futtaim operates Enova, a facility and energy management company, through a joint venture operation with Veolia, a global leader in optimised environment resource management. The Company also owns the rights to The LEGO Store and American Girl in the Middle East and operates in the food and beverage industry through a partnership with Gourmet Gulf.
Please follow us on
https://www.youtube.com/user/majidalfuttaim
https://twitter.com/majidalfuttaim
https://www.linkedin.com/company/majid-al-futtaim
https://www.facebook.com/MajidAlFuttaim
https://www.instagram.com/majidalfuttaim
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.