Doha: Sheikh Thani Bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) on Saturday announced the implementation of the first phase of 'Al Ghaza W Al Nur'- 'Food & Light' global initiative, aimed at enabling thousands of children to be educated and providing the necessary support for their families.
HE Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, General Supervisor of the initiative, said that nearly 18,000 boys and girls in basic education have benefited from the first phase, which was implemented in six Asian and African countries: Yemen, Sri Lanka, Mali, Sudan, Niger and Chad.
He emphasized the further implementation of the next stages of the initiative, which aims to support education and development in 20 countries of the neediest and the poorest countries, by enabling 45,000 children to continue their education.
HE Sheikh Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani referred to the ongoing cooperation between RAF and the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in implementing this initiative, noting that this partnership targets the most vulnerable areas worldwide.
"Food & Light" initiative provides needy families with basic food items on a monthly basis for one year so they could send their children to school.
Hundreds of small development projects will also be launched to provide livelihood for needy families.
The global QR 60 million "Food & Light" imitative is funded by Endowments of HE Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Al Thani and it would contribute to the education of 45,000 children in 15,000 families from 20 of the poorest countries.
The initiative, which also includes the building of 15 schools in poor countries to support educational infrastructure and improving the living conditions of needy families, has identified 20 targeted countries based on UN reports and researches which are: Mali, Niger, Sudan, Afghanistan, Chad, Pakistan, Senegal, Guinea, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Mauritania, Togo, Kenya, Nigeria and Liberia.
QNA
