Expo City Dubai Foundation launches with call to enhance global impact

Taking forward its mission to advance innovative ideas that benefit people and the planet, Expo City Dubai Authority has launched a non-profit foundation.

The Expo City Dubai Foundation aims to build on the success of Expo Live, the pioneering and impactful global innovation and partnership programme initiated under Expo 2020 Dubai.

The new foundation will bridge the gap between people, ideas and resources, creating a wide network of like-minded organisations to find solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

It will actively support with funding, collaborations, investment and business opportunities, providing an enabling environment for social enterprises and problem-solvers from the Global South to scale and grow their ideas.

Following Expo City Dubai’s hosting of the COP28 climate summit and the most inclusive World Expo to date, the Foundation enhances the city’s position as a centre for meaningful partnerships.

Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and CEO, Expo City Dubai Authority, said: "Our pioneering Expo Live innovation programme continues to benefit millions of people around the world, yet we know we have the potential to do so much more, create many more opportunities and spur even greater impact. The creation of the Expo City Dubai Foundation is not only integral to our city’s vision and values, but also an inevitable next step."

"Working together, we can harness human ingenuity for true, meaningful progress, and we invite all who share our values – entrepreneurs, philanthropists, corporates and fellow foundations – to join us in this exciting new chapter," she added.

The Foundation was launched at a gathering that included Reem Al Hashimy, Hessa Buhumaid, Director General of Dubai’s Community Development Authority and other government officials, foundations, partners and innovators.

"Our joint efforts to expand the Foundation’s scope of work reflect our leadership’s vision to work together towards a cleaner, safer, sustainable and more dignified future for communities around the world," said Buhumaid.

The event also included a panel discussion on philanthropy and social development with Buhumaid and Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and Special Envoy for Business and Philanthropy, UAE.

"With trillions of dollars in strategic philanthropy expected to be practised across Asia and Africa in the years ahead, the UAE is uniquely positioned as a global hub for data, design and implementation of philanthropic solutions to our world’s greatest challenges. The Expo City Dubai Foundation, with Expo City Dubai’s proven track record in collaborative, targeted, and large-scale global impact, is central to realising this opportunity and responsibility," said Jafar.

The Foundation builds on Expo Live’s legacy of innovation and partnerships, which has – to date – backed 191 initiatives from 92 countries.

Announced in 2013, the programme’s first five cycles positively impacted 5.8 million people worldwide, created 160,000 jobs, improved healthcare for 1.1 million people and restored 36 million hectares of land.

The new entity plans a series of empowering partnerships designed to support social entrepreneurs across a wide range of sectors, based on the belief that a broad coalition of people working together can create tangible solutions that benefit communities and the planet.

Expo City Dubai Authority announces the launch of Expo City Dubai Foundation, a non-profit foundation to build on the success of Expo Live, the pioneering and impactful global innovation and partnership programme initiated under Expo 2020 Dubai. pic.twitter.com/NI0sL1JE73

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) June 6, 2024