Nakheel donates Dh7 million to charity

Hollywood star Michael Douglas was in town for the first time on Monday to support a Dh7-million donation for poor children by local property giant Nakheel.

Douglas, 64, received the funds on behalf of international charity group Free the Children (FTC). His celeb wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, 39, was also present at a press conference announcing the details in Emirates Towers hotel.

The money will be used in various FTC projects to make clean water more accessible to an estimated 200,000 people in mainly Kenya and Sri Lanka.

According to the United Nations, 5,000 children die everyday globally from diarrhea, which is commonly caused by water-borne infections. The planet is facing a “silent crisis” where over a billion people – 20 per cent of the world’s population – don’t have access to drinking water, according to the World Health Organisation.

“This [situation] is not fair for any child. Together, we can stop water disease in its tracks,” said Douglas.

“We’re not just giving them money – we’re giving them hope. Water is the lifeblood of communities. If children won’t have to take long walks to collect water, they can go to school.”

The FTC was founded in 1995 by Craig Kielburger, a Canadian child rights activist, who was only 12-years-old then. Since then, the organisation has built over 500 schools worldwide. It claims to be “the largest network of children helping children through education” in the world.

“Nakheel’s extraordinary generosity will inspire young people in Dubai and transform the lives of thousands of families,” said Kielburger, now 25, during the press conference.

Part of the donations will be used to sponsor around 40 Dubai-based children to visit their less fortunate counterparts in poor countries and carry out volunteer work.

“Many of us take access to clean and safe water for granted. We’re very pleased to be partnering with Free the Children to help make this a reality for people living in harsh environments in the third world,” said Manal Shaheen, Nakheel’s Director of Sales, Marketing and Customer Services.

Despite being a desert city, Dubai is among the world’s top water consumers. On average, each one of its 1.6 million residents uses over 100 gallons of water per day – more than twice the global daily consumption per head. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education and major companies in the UAE are to reveal “a powerful environment campaign” to save water.