Sharjah [UAE], October 10 (ANI/WAM): Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Charity International (SCI), said that SCI has touched the lives of 24 million people in 110 countries around the world in the last 10 years, keeping with the vision of the wise leadership.
This came in Sheikh Saqr's his inspirational talk "A Noble Mark on the World: How Sharjah Charity Transformed 24 million Lives" at the Regional Data and Community Development Forum on Thursday, 10th October.
Supported by data from the Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD), the organiser of the forum, Sheikh Saqr gave a comprehensive picture of the organisation's local and international philanthropic activities in the last 10 years.
"The data has helped us make decisions and allocate resources to the right channels," he added, thanking Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, for the motivation and benevolence. "Sheikh Dr. Sultan has always insisted that mankind is the objective of our work."
Divulging that SCI has utilised AED 3 billion during the period for meeting the United Nations goals for sustainable development (SDG), Sheikh Saqr expanded on the seven SDG goals that SCI has fulfilled so far. The first among them is the mission to eradicate poverty, and SCI has spent AED 1 billion to help 623,054 families improve their standard of living, he said.
The second goal is eradication of hunger, and in this 12,362,353 food baskets have been provided across nations at a cost of AED 120 bn so far. Good health is the third objective, and 66,794 healthcare units have been provided around the world. Its dialysis centres in Halwan and Khorfakkan provide services free of charge to all needy patients without any racial or religious discrimination.
The fourth goal, education, has benefited 114,412 students around the world and SCI has spent AED 200 bn for this noble cause. Meeting the fifth goal of providing clean water has meant digging wells and other water bodies at a cost of 260 million to help over 9 million people.
Building sustainable cities has been the sixth goal, and the UN data has helped SCI build comprehensive housing facilities with schools, hospitals and mosques as it did in an Egyptian village that did not have a school nearby.
Good economic growth has been the seventh goal and it has benefited 15,750 people to set up small enterprises and improve their quality of life.
Sheikh Saqr concluded his inspiring account with a video of SCI actions across the world especially in Africa and Asia. He thanked partners and entities that have joined the SCI in its journey and exhorted the audience to join it to do good to people. "Charity is inspiring, enhances growth and empowers society," he concluded. (ANI/WAM)