Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the Emirates Food Bank as a humanitarian foundation that aims to inculcate the values of generosity and offering food, establishing Dubai as the region’s first city in achieving zero food waste to landfill.

The initiative coincides with the Year of Giving, which was declared by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan last month, Gulf News reported. 

It comes on the occasion of the 11th anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed’s accession as Ruler of Dubai.

Sheikh Mohammed called on all public and private organizations and the UAE community to dedicate the celebration of his accession day to charity initiatives.

The food bank will include hotels, food factories, farms, hospitality foundations, giant supermarkets and philanthropists. The bank will also deal with surplus fresh and canned food in a professional manner under the supervision of relevant bodies.

The food will be distributed in the UAE and abroad in collaboration with local and international humanitarian and charitable organizations

“The Year of Giving is a golden opportunity to unleash the humanitarian potential and charitable innovations of the UAE people and all local institutions. We are very pleased to begin the Year of Giving with an initiative related to the most important human need, food, to deepen the merit of generosity in Emirati people,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

“The UAE people are one of the most generous. We will try through the Emirates Food Bank to put this great value of generosity and feeding people within a sustainable institutional framework,” Sheikh Mohammed added.

The food bank will fall under the umbrella of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives. It gains special importance as a local and regional initiative with humanitarian, social, economic and cultural value.

“2017 is a year of goodness and blessing in the UAE. We want the UAE’s God-given blessings to reach every place in the world through innovative initiatives and humanitarian foundations,” Sheikh Mohammed underlined.

Source: MENA