Doha, Qatar, June 23, 2019: Launched in May 2019 in the spirit of the Holy Month of Ramadan, Education Above All (EAA) Foundation’s nationwide fundraising campaign, under the theme “No Child Left Out”, has garnered overwhelming support from donors in Qatar. EAA’s “No Child Left Out” slew of projects and initiatives assist marginalised and impoverished children accessing quality and baseline education, indiscriminately of their geographical and socioeconomic barriers, offering them logistical, technical and psychosocial support in the process. 

 

On the heels of this fundraising campaign, a total of 15 million QAR will be channelled to the efforts and worldwide beneficiaries of EAA’s Educate A Child (EAC) and Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) educational programmes, targeting marginalised and impoverished children with access to quality educational facilities and resources. 

 

On May 15, EAA’s fundraising campaign kicked off with a special episode on Qatar TV’s Hayatuna programme, in a bid to raise awareness around the foundation’s global projects for children and youth. Announcing the campaign, Dr. Ali M Al Quradaghi, Secretary General of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and Vice Chairman for European Council for Fatwa and Research, stressed on the importance and meaning of Sadaqah and Zakat in the spirit of the Holy Month of Ramadan, and particularly so in supporting the right for universal education. To this end, the EAA foundation is eligible to receive Sadaqah and Zakat donations to fund its programmes, which include several projects in Somalia, Gaza, Lebanon, Turkey, Mali, Pakistan, Iraq, and Qatar and many other countries. Qatar Radio also cast the fundraising call to the local community on its Layali Ramadan Programme. 

 

Central to the success of EAA’s fundraising campaign across 60 locations in Qatar was a slew of employee and customer engagement partnerships with Lulu supermarkets, Carrefour Qatar, Marriott Hotels, Exxon Mobil and Qatar Airways. Others to have come in support of the campaign include Ooredoo, Nakilat, W Doha, QAPCO, Shell, ELAN, Dar Al Sharq, Muntajat, and Dar Al Arab.

 

EAA’s fundraising success is the conclusion of many others in the past two years; most notable of which was EAC’s milestone achievement in 2018 in securing commitments needed to provide access to quality primary education for more than 10.4 million out of school children (OOSC) – over 7.5 million of whom are already enrolled. That same year, EAC also secured over US $1.8 billion in investments into is projects.

 

Commenting on the turnout for EAA’s second Ramadan fundraising campaign, Mr. Mohamed Al-Naama, Senior Representative of Fundraising Department at Education Above All (EAA) Foundation said: 

 

“This fundraising round’s success takes on a different meaning this year, today, thanks to the support of our partners here and across the globe, have successfully reserved places for out of school children in the educational system and a better chance for their future. These numbers are proof that no ambition is too big when people harness their energy, resources and efforts toward the greater good of their communities and others that need it. 

 

Since we first started our mission, we have repeatedly stressed on the power of a collective in accomplishing what no organization can single-handedly achieve. Our partner network, to this end, was not merely an official list of committees and organisations enrolled under our programmes, but simply, individuals who have risen to the responsibility and call of making the universal right to primary and basic education a reality. In this fundraising effort, these partners were customers, viewers, broadcasters and staff who answered our call with overwhelming support. And for this, we are immensely grateful and proud to have rallied the Qatari community behind our mission.”

 

On Qatar TV’s role in the fundraising campaign, Al-Naama added:

 

“On this occasion, I would like to extend our special thanks to Qatar TV for the central role it played in the success of our fundraising efforts. Qatar TV’s depiction of our ambitions and the hard realities our beneficiaries face in accessing their most basic of their educational rights was one that resonated with the local community in unimaginable ways. There could have been no better mouthpiece for our efforts.”

 

Across its programmes, EAA continues to tackle deep-rooted socioeconomic barriers in its mission toward equal access to quality education across underserved communities around the world, particularly among young populations. Last year, EAA’s programmes recorded several milestones and projects under this mission.