Grow to 1,750 from 1,678 Units in 2012 Dubai-UAE, 19March, 2014 -Waqf Development Department at Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation (AMAF) reported a growth of seven per cent in 2013, with its endowment units now standing at 1,750. Meanwhile, the returns from endowment properties rose to AED80 million,with 10 projects worth AED117 million being developed across Dubai. His Excellency Tayeb Al-Rais, Secretary General of AMAF, said: “In Islamic history, waqf is a religious endowment, set up primarily for funding education, scientific research, culture, healthcare and other related activities. It is unfortunate that today the role of awqafhas been restricted tomerely setting up mosques, when the growth in population has increased the necessity for facilities such as schools, hospitals and orphanages. “This limitation of waqf’s duties has resulted in animpoverished generation without adequate education and healthcare services, which in turn indicates a marked deficit in social assets. With even non-Muslim countries like Australia and the US applyingwaqfin its traditional essence, it is high time that we in this region revive waqf to what it really is.” Al-Raisadded: “At AMAF, we are keen to launch community welfare initiatives by collaborating with organizations that share our commitment towards the society. Apart from Noor Awqafthat was established in cooperation with Noor Bank, we have also joined hands with a financial institution to establish‘Family Village’ in Dubai, afirst-of-its-kind orphanage that will provide shelter, education, nutrition and healthcare to needy children, ina family environment. The construction cost of the project, which will be completed by the beginning of 2015, is around AED46 million.” Commenting on the future projects of the Waqf Development Department, Al-Rais said: “The past year has been a fruitful one, with numerous plans successfully executed. A notable achievement is the signing of seven administration agreements to organize the relationship between AMAF and the waqfadministrators, besides supporting various endowment channels. “In addition, severalinitiatives have been approved for the year 2014, including completion of the donation collection process for the Family Village project and activation of SMS and smart phones donation services. We have also finalized the registration of Dubai’s entire portfolio of endowments, with plans to honor both the endowers and endowment administrators.” Underlining the important role of waqfand commenting on the results of the WaqfFund for the year 2013, Ahmad Bu Shehab, Director of Waqf Development Department at AMAF, said: “Sustainability is at the core of all waqfactivity, which is the reason we seek to maintain waqf-backed funding of projects. A notable achievement for AMAF in 2013 has been the growth inendowment units by seven per cent to reach 1,750 units, compared to 1,678 units in2012. Collecting donations is an integralpart of the department’s business and we do it through direct donations, donation boxes, coupons andsalarydeductions. The donations AMAF hasreceived so far amount to over AED29 million.”
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