To educate a child in Africa - for a better future and equitable opportunities – Maersk Line UAE’s event brought together 3,000 people on February 23rd at Zabeel Park, Dubai for this day of giving back. Among the attendees were customers and their families, colleagues, and staff from the rest of the A.P. Moller – Maersk business units.
This year’s event was a stupendous success – we raised AED 500,000 i.e. half a million dirhams or USD 136,130 – that will help a great deal towards the cause. With the funds raised this year, we aspire to construct and support three schools in Senegal that will improve children's access to quality education. Helping us in this endeavor is the philanthropic organization, Dubai Cares.
Enabling Global Trade
Through this yearly event, our goal is to support the development of Africa - a vast continent where different areas experience progress at very diverse rates and a region that holds tremendous potential for the future - thereby enabling global trade. This is only natural as UAE’s cultural and business ties are deeply rooted in Africa. Serving this region reinforces our commitment in fostering of strong partnerships and robust trade between the Middle East and Africa.
“The trade between the Middle East and West Africa continues to be challenging in 2018,” Christian Juul-Nyholm, Managing Director for Maersk Line UAE, Omar, Qatar and Iran shares. “While we work to navigate the current business environment, we also want to support the African continent’s future development and education, which in the longer term will lead to further opportunities for global trade.”
Continuing support for Africa
From a modest beginning in 2012, the scale and involvement that the event brings in today is truly humbling. The positive impact we make in young African children’s lives serves as an encouragement for us to do more. Over the years, some of the causes that we have supported include:
- 2012: Provided school supplies to students in Burkina Faso.
- 2013: Equipped 83 schools in Burkina Faso with sustainable solar panels.
- 2014: Provided healthcare to 720 children orphaned by Ebola
- 2015: Built two IT laboratories of 100 computers in University of Zimbabwe
- 2016: Built a school each in Mauritania and Sudan
- 2017: Built 4 schools in Burkina Faso for the benefit of 320 students
Extraordinary Engagement – A Matter of Pride
This event is now considered as one of the most engaging corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities that we do in the country. Engagement comes from stakeholders across all rungs of the customer organization, vendors, cross functional teams, and business units. Participating in this event instills a sense of pride and immense goodwill.
“We have partnered with Maersk Line for all their CSR events in Dubai since the very beginning and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to contribute towards a great cause,” says Deepak Lalwani, a customer exporting on the West Africa trade lanes from Deepak Commercial Brokerage. “The event not only brings together clients of Maersk Line, but a much wider community of all ages and nationalities. It’s a truly world class event fully organized in-house and executed flawlessly. Thank you, Maersk Line, for this opportunity and partnership.”
Christian, our Managing Director, agrees. “The CSR event is an amazing engagement booster for our team. It is impossible not to get smitten by the enthusiasm of all our colleagues who spend a great deal of time and effort to ensure the success of the event and our customers who turn up in full force with their families in support of this initiative – this is one of my favorite days of the year.”
With this event getting commendation from customers and their families, our fellow colleagues, the Patronage from Her Royal Highness and our children beneficiaries in the Africa region, we are even more inspired to work towards this great cause.
Indeed, when we give back we can all move forward.
