Curtains down for Dubai Cares’ programme in Ethiopia

Emirates Business

A Dubai Cares delegation led by Chief Executive Officer, Tariq Al Gurg visited Ethiopia for the closing of Dubai Cares’ Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) program. The program, launched in September 2015, is a component of the philanthropic organization’s wider Enhanced School Health Initiative (ESHI) pilot program that is being implemented by the World Food Program (WFP), the Partnership for Child Development (PCD) and SNV Netherlands, along with the Ethiopian Government, and the Ethiopian Public Health Research Institute (EPHI).
Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has funded a three-year program with the objective of improving the education, health, and nutrition of school-aged children across the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). To meet this goal, the funding was used to deliver an integrated program of home grown school feeding, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) interventions and deworming treatment in partnership with local farmers to reduce the prevalence of Neglected Tropical Diseases, namely Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) and Sctistosomiasis.
The visit began by discussing the program outcomes with representatives from the PCD and WFP and the regional Bureau of Education in Ethiopia. The following day, the Dubai Cares delegation visited Wonte Boditi School to assess the success of the organization’s activities and investment. Here, Al Gurg witnessed the school-feeding processes and the method used to test students for infections. Later, they met with the Melik Silte cooperative, which is a farmers cooperative union involved in the preparation, processing and transportation of food commodities to schools. On the final day, the Dubai Cares delegation met with the Advisor to the State Minister of Education to discuss the program achievements and the government’s plans for scaling up the program.
Speaking about the visit and its outcomes, Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares said, “Our visit to Ethiopia, and in particular the Wonte Boditi School, has allowed us to clearly see the success of our partners’ efforts. As the program comes to a close, we can take many important lessons away from our activities, which will help us improve future Home Grown School Feeding programs. It’s also pleasing to see that such an important part of our enhanced school health intervention pilot is meeting the targets we have set. There is much more to be done to support children in the region, but we know now that our plan is working.”
“His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai has always urged us to reach out to our partners and friends to provide unconditional support to contribute to achieving sustainable growth and effective global development.
The UAE and Ethiopia have maintained a distinguished relationship and a strong bond of friendship. Dubai Cares’ HGSF program is part of UAE’s desire to strengthen the long-standing bilateral ties with Ethiopia in creating strong people-to people relation,” added Al Gurg.
The Home Grown School Feeding program, which covers ten districts of Ethiopia, has proven to be a success, as targets have been met and more beneficiaries than originally planned have been reached. Today, Dubai Cares is supporting a total of 58,812 children through its HGSF program. This has led to a six per cent increase in annual enrolment across the target schools, an improved attendance rate of 96.4 per cent, and a reduced dropout rate of 16 per cent.
Through its philanthropic activities, Dubai Cares has also successfully improved the program’s cost efficiency and strengthened the government’s ability to plan and implement the HGSF program in the future. The government has allocated a yearly budget for expanding the HGSF program to reach more children, with an 8 million Ethiopian Birr ($368,355) budget set for 2016. In addition, the Government of Ethiopia has developed a National School Feeding Strategy, which will guide the government in implementing HGSF programs and will help them allocate budgets and resources accordingly.