Leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal Middle East Limited (A&M), today announced that the firm is seeking to raise funds for the education and development of refugee children in Bangladesh.
Uniting with The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), Sharjah-based global humanitarian organisation dedicated to helping people in need worldwide, the initiative will improve access and quality of education for Rohingya Refugee Children at Cox Bazar District, the world’s largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh. The capital raised will primarily be devoted towards a new project in Bangladesh – a Model Learning Centre at the Kutupalong Refugee Camp, which will educate out-of-school Rohingya children every year. Upon completion, the centre will also offer specialised training to refugee teachers and Bangladeshi teachers.
The announcement was made during a benevolent Iftar dinner at Burj Al Arab in Dubai, where Dr. Saeeda Jaffar and Neil Hayward, Managing Directors and Co-Heads of A&M Middle East, and Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of TBHF, formalised the new partnership, and in attendance was His Excellency Mr Iqbal Khan, Consul General of Bangladesh.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Saeeda Jaffar commented: “Ramadan is a time of giving, generosity, togetherness and tolerance. We are humbled and proud to know that our partnership with TBHF will bring meaningful changes to the lives of refugee children in Bangladesh. The financing will not only address the immediate education needs of the Rohingya youth but will also provide access to development opportunities and standardised learning frameworks to 320 students per day andtraining to nearly 1200 Rohingya and Bangladeshi teachers at the camp per year.”
The project components of the Model Learning Centre will include a learning facility with four classrooms, training center and accommodation for teachers, and a separate safe playground for children, addressing the mental and psychological status of hundreds of camp children who have experienced trauma at such early stages.
Mariam Al Hammadi, Director, TBHF, remarked: “Around 51 percent of children in these refugee camps still require access to school or any learning opportunity. I am honoured and pleased in equal measure to announce that we are joining hands with top consultancy and advisory firm, A&M, on this new learning centre project in Bangladesh, whose objective is to assist the nation and the humanitarian community there in improving access and quality of education for these children.”
She added: “Ever since the Rohingya crisis began, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and his wife, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, TBHF Chairperson and UNHCR Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children, have been personally involved, guiding TBHF to design effective humanitarian intervention strategies. Our objective when deciding on programmes or projects to support and bring forward to donors is always to ensure that there is a long term impact to our interventions on people and communities that need them the most. Every Dirham any of our donors contribute to our campaigns will be used in full to help improve the future prospects of millions in need. TBHF does not charge any administration fee.”
TBHF was established in May 2015 by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi. The Foundation was set up with the aim of helping children and families in vulnerable situations outside of the UAE. Since then, TBHF has provided health, education and emergency aid services – among others – to over one million people in need in more than 20 countries.