(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Over QR660.5m was collected in donations from individuals and organisations in Qatar last year by Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF).
The revenue increased by eight percent in 2016 compared to QR 611m in 2015, according to RAF officials.
The expenses increased significantly to QR556.9m, with a major portion of QR428.4m spent abroad and QR128.4m used inside the country.The number of beneficiaries also jumped to over 18.7 million in 2016 from 12.7 million in 2015.
The details were shared by RAF officials while releasing the charity organisation's annual report.
'Major beneficiaries were refugees, internally displaced people and those affected by natural disasters, said Dr Mohammad Salah Ibrahim, Deputy General Manager, RAF.
'The charity projects were implemented by RAF in collaboration with 204 international humanitarian organisations and local partners of RAF in 93 beneficiary countries worldwide, he added.
Local projects also received significant funds. "RAF implemented 20 projects in Qatar to cater to citizens and expatriates. More than QR46.4m was spent to repay the loans of defaulters and pay house rents, electricity bills and school fees for those who were unable to pay due to financial constraints.
Other local projects included marriage funds for Qatari youths, paying medical bills and providing cash to the poor.
The deprived families and individuals were provided 982,000 food baskets, 617 ration coupons, 47,400 meat coupons at a cost of over QR46.4m.
RAF implemented many cultural and religious programmes. The major religious project was printing and distribution of one million copies of the Holy Quran.
The body also implemented relief, social, education, health and development projects abroad last year. The relief projects took a lion's share at over QR141.6m, 36% of the total expenses, due to war and unrest in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Myanmar and Central Africa, followed by social projects that accounted for 25%, over QR100.9m. Educational projects ranked third and received QR77.8m, accounting for 20% of the total expenses. Development and health projects got QR54.7m and QR21.6m respectively.
Many orphanages and homes for poor were built under social projects. Needy families and orphans were provided financial support. RAF implemented 258 social projects at a cost of QR66.4m in Asian countries. African countries received 275 projects worth QR32.8m. At least 13 projects at a cost of QR1.7m were implemented in European countries. RAF provided food and non-food items to the victims of wars, conflicts and natural disasters in a bid to improve their living conditions.
Asian countries received 109 food projects at a cost of QR121.4m, followed by African countries with 52 projects worth QR19.6m. European countries got only two projects worth QR547,000.
RAF implemented 153 educational projects worth QR32.3m in Asian countries, 392 projects worth 43.9m in African countries, European countries received 11 projects worth QR1.4m and one project in America worth QR83,000.
RAF launched several initiatives worldwide to address the human issues like education, health, food and development.
Combating starvation 'Al Salwa initiative is one of them. The project worth over QR125.5m aims at providing opportunities to poor people in the most fragile countries to ensure their food security for themselves. The project targeted 36 most deserving countries. More than 4.3 million people are expected to benefit from the project.
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.