The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (commonly referred to as MBRGI) is a foundation based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), launched in 2015 by the UAE ministry of finance, consolidating some 33 philanthropic initiatives overseen in the past two decades by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai.[1]
In October 2015, the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives was launched, listing on its board of trustees Sheikh Mohammed as the chairman, the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum as deputy chairman and Mohammad Al Gergawi the secretary general.
MBRGI defines its work under five pillars: humanitarian aid and relief; healthcare and disease control; spreading education and knowledge; innovation and entrepreneurship and empowering communities.[2]
During 2017, the foundation invested AED 1.8 billion (US$490 million) and had 543 permanent staff.[3][4]
In 2017, spending on humanitarian aid and relief initiatives, programmes and projects totalled AED 194 million.[2] The humanitarian initiatives included:
The International Humanitarian City (IHC)
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment[5]
Mohammed bin Rashid Global Centre for Endowment Consultancy[8]
MBRGI's 2017 spending on the programmes and initiatives under healthcare & disease control doubled to AED 477 million.[2][9] Initiatives included the Al Jalila Foundation and Noor Dubai[10]
MBRGI manages a number of initiatives and programmes that aim to combat ignorance and illiteracy, providing essential basic education in developing countries, while reinforcing the Arab region’s heritage as a centre of knowledge through cultural and enlightenment initiatives.[11] In 2017, the total expenditure on initiatives, programmes and projects dedicated to spreading education and knowledge amounted to AED 634 million.[2] These initiatives included:
The Mohammed bin Rashid Arabic eLearning Project[16]
In 2017, MBRGI invested some AED 396 million in promoting new enterprises and sustainable innovation.[2] Initiatives included The Dubai Future Foundation,[17] The Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development (Dubai SME),[18] The Mohammed Bin Rashid Award for Young Business Leaders,[19] and The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award[20]
In 2017, MBRGI invested AED 129 million into "empowering communities"[21][22] Initiatives included:
Three new initiatives were launched under MBRGI during 2017: the International Institute for Tolerance,[33][34][24][35] the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Arabic E-learning Project[9][36][16] and One Million Arab Coders.[37]
