The UAE continues to play an important role in development in the wider region and beyond and, asserting its commitment to bilateral aid, recently established a dedicated ministry for development and international cooperation, headed by Her Excellency, Sheikh Lubna Al Qasimi, who also serves on the board of the UAE's national foundation, Emirates Foundation for Youth Development.
Speaking at the foundation's annual philanthropy summit, Sheikh Lubna highlighted the connection between development and philanthropy. She noted that current changes in the philanthropic sector are structural, widespread and increasingly gaining traction, which create an opportunity for philanthropy to better support broader socio-economic development: "In my role as minister of international cooperation and development I see this very clearly. For the first time in 2011 the Busan Declaration of the OECD Development Assistance Committee identified philanthropy as a significant partner in the development process."
As a country, UAE has always believed that giving back is important. Islamic societies have long understood the need to support less fortunate members of the community. Her Excellency valued UAE's strong track record saying "We aim to meet the UN giving target which means investing 0.7% of gross national income in aid. The UAE now gives over $2bn every year in foreign aid and in 2012 was ranked as the sixteenth most generous donor in a list of global givers"
Her Excellency went on to note that while giving – be it through bilateral aid of philanthropy – is important, it is not just how much is gifted but also how efficiently it is disbursed. "Building a culture of giving is not just about meeting international targets or following local cultural norms. It's also about giving effectively – giving in a way where outcomes or the social impact is measureable and sustainable."
This sentiment was echoed by the manager of strategy and operations in Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Soushiant Zanganehpour, who noted that "demonstrating value, capturing value, communicating value: these are the biggest challenges foundations currently face." Jasmine Nahhas, vice president of education for employment and also a speaker at the event agreed that there is a critical need for foundations to combine money, skills, measurement and know-how in order to create meaningful and lasting social impact.
There is growing recognition that operational inefficiencies inside foundations and charities can hinder focus on key objectives. Recent research in the UK shows that foundations can spend up to 15-50% of the total money raised on the fund raising activity itself. This is more than three times the average cost of raising commercial finance in the private sector. It also means that third sector organisations get detracted from their core mission.
Global research also supports the idea that the more efficient philanthropists become in delivering outcomes, the more this can drive 'giving'. Investors are more likely to contribute funds if philanthropists share 'lessons learned'. In other words greater levels of transparency and accountability drive greater giving.
In a report published by Coutts and launched on the back of the Emirates Foundation summit, the findings revealed that last year GCC donors gave at least Dh2.6bn. The UAE was at the forefront of charitable giving where donors gave the highest number of individual US$1m gifts from 9 different sources. Throughout the year, the country gave Dh852m, amounting to 32% of the total donations for the GCC, with about half of those donations going to domestic charities to support housing and education.
The foundation's philanthropy summit was convened primarily to create platform to debate the concepts of efficiency and effectiveness in the sector in line with global discourse about how foundations are increasingly promoting a 'business' or 'enterprise' based approach to philanthropy with a view to increasing impact. This new approach is sometimes referred to as catalytic or venture philanthropy and focuses on social investment that commands a social return.
Speaking at the summit, Ziad Abe Shaker, the co-founder and chief executive of Cedar Environmental, a regional social enterprise, elaborated on this saying "by bringing a business like discipline to philanthropy, we can gear the work and the outcome towards more effective and result-driven actions".
In line with this new way of thinking in 2012 Emirates Foundation underwent a transition from traditional philanthropy to venture philanthropy. Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna, explained the transition: 'We went from being a grant making organisation to being an operational one, to become closer to the issues that we seek to resolve. It also allows us to measure and refine our programmes more effectively". Her Excellency also noted that focusing on just one area – youth development – can allow for creating greater impact. "We want to deliver real sustainable results in relation to the problems that we seek to tackle," she said while highlighting the importance of scale.
Clare Woodcraft-Scott, the chief executive officer of Emirates Foundation echoed this sentiment saying "Our transition means we are now much more focused and better able to measure and improve impact. We are here to change the lives of young people not just positively but also permanently – we don't just want quick fixes, we need long-term systemic solutions that can create real social value."
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