Donations from 385,000 individuals, private and public companies, and businessmen across 51 countries helped secure food parcels equivalent to 216 million meals

The UAE’s 100 Million Meals campaign that sought to distribute 100 million meals to beneficiaries in 30 countries during the month of Ramadan has now achieved over double its target.

Donations from 385,000 individuals, private and public companies, and businessmen across 51 countries helped secure food parcels equivalent to 216 million meals.

The initiative was announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, days before Ramadan began last month.

To ensure efficient distribution of the food parcels, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) has partnered with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment (MBRCH), the Food Banking Regional Network (FBRN), and local charitable organisations in the 30 targeted countries.

As part of its role, the WFP is distributing food vouchers, with values donated through the campaign, to vulnerable groups in Palestine and in refugee camps in Jordan and Bangladesh to allow them to buy their own food.

Mageed Yahia, WFP director in the UAE and representative to the GCC, said: “The 100 Million Meals campaign came at a critical time when hunger is rapidly soaring around the world as a result of conflict, climate shocks, and the impact of Covid-19. Today, more than 270 million people face life-threatening levels of hunger. We are watching a catastrophe unfold before our eyes and we must all step up to fight back. This campaign sets a powerful example to the world of how a community can come together in the face of hunger.”

“MBRGI’s contribution through the ‘100 Million Meals’ campaign provides critical support to the operations of the UN World Food Programme in Bangladesh, Jordan and Palestine, where ration cuts were looming as a result of funding shortfalls. With this support, we are able to continue providing an essential lifeline of food assistance to vulnerable populations with no other means of meeting their basic food and nutrition needs during the holy month of Ramadan,” noted Yahia.

The distribution of the parcels carrying basic and essential food items has already begun in several countries and will continue until all donated meals reach the target groups in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America over the next three months.

Dr Moez El Shohdi, founder and CEO of the FBRN, added that the campaign complements the objectives of FBRN to tackle world hunger and malnutrition since its inception in Dubai in 2013. As an umbrella for food banks around the region, the network is an active partner in distributing food parcels to beneficiaries in 13 out of the 30 targeted countries.

The campaign’s other partner, the MBRCH, plays an active role in food distribution operations, deploying personnel and volunteers, as well as the wider network of partners abroad, has enabled the organization to expand the campaign’s scope to 10 additional countries to reach as many beneficiaries as possible.

Within a week of the campaign’s announcement, it had already hit 78 per cent of its target through various donations. Over the course of the campaign, one of the more notable contributions to the campaign came via a charity art auction that raised Dhs36.6m to provide an equal number of meals to the programme’s beneficiaries.