IslamicFinance.de

From 12-20 March the European Foundation Centre (EFC) surveyed its membership to find out what measures they are taking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. All respondents confirmed that their organisations have taken internal measures to protect staff, visitors, and the public. 70% of respondents said they were using “smart-working” methods to compensate for working from home. 79% of respondents said programmes will be harder to implement. There was a general interest in finding collaborative ways to fund and/or exchanging ideas, information and good practices. On 25 March the EFC and DAFNE jointly issued the European Philanthropy Statement on COVID-19, calling for a strong spirit of European solidarity in the face of the current adversity. The message is clear: philantropy as a sector must show a unified, coherent response to this current threat as well as those that lie ahead.

Alwaleed Philanthropies has made a new $5 million investment, in their partnership with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in a proposed commitment to further prevent the spread of disease in low-income urban areas in which additional funds are proposed to be made between 2020 and 2024.

The Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair Refugee Education Fund announced its grantees for their second round of funding, following the end of the inaugural round in 2018. The fund aims to support 10,000 students through secondary level and vocational education. First two of funding dispersed AED74 million (approximately £16 million) supporting the education of over 17,000 youth in Jordan, Lebanon, and UAE.