Dubai Airports and Dubai Cares today announced a record result from the first year of their three-year partnership raising AED1,505,329 in support of Dubai Cares’ Education in Emergencies programmes which offer support to children affected by conflict and natural disasters in countries like Lebanon, Iraq and Nepal, thus enabling them catch up with their education.

"Last year we vowed to double our annual contribution from AED640,000 to AED1.3 million and are thrilled to have surpassed that goal," said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. "We’re grateful to our customers for their generous donations and to Dubai Cares for their tireless efforts to direct these funds towards supporting thousands of children and young people who currently don’t have access to quality education."

In turn, Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Cares, said, "We are honoured to have partnered with Dubai Airports and are happy to witness such tremendous success in the first year. The generous contribution by travellers through the airport and visitors to Dubai Airports’ website will certainly help us expand the scope of our efforts to reach children and young people in developing countries, especially those affected by conflict, epidemics and natural disasters. With the continuous involvement and commitment of farsighted organisations such as Dubai Airports, we will continue to make successful advances in shaping the global education agenda."

Dubai Airports has been supporting Dubai Cares since 2010. Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, is a UAE-based global philanthropic organisation working towards providing children and young people in developing countries with access to quality education through the design and funding of programmes that aim to be integrated, impactful, sustainable and scalable. Last year, the two organisations signed a three-year agreement which provides Dubai Cares with the exclusive ability to collect funds in the public areas of both Dubai International and Dubai World Central.

As a result of the agreement, Dubai Airports has increased the number of collection boxes, improved locations to maximise contributions and increased awareness digitally and in the airport among the close to 90 million passengers that pass through the facility, around the importance of providing underprivileged children and young people access to quality education.