The Dubai Charity Association (DCA) has received the Philip Morris Award for Charitable Organizations for the year 2001 in recognition of its efforts to provide for the needs of the handicapped and the elderly in the UAE, the Khaleej Times reported Saturday.
It is the second organization in the country and the seventh in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to receive the award after the selection in 2000 of the Handicapped Guardians Association based in Sharjah.
Richard Reavey, the director of corporate affairs and Middle East at Philip Morris Services Inc., was quoted by the Dubai-based paper as saying that “the award aims to promote the concept of charity and to support the numerous organizations that quietly work to meet the needs of the Gulf communities.”
He said the award was not a competition between charities and did not seek to hold up any particular organization as better than another.
Eighteen organizations working to provide for the needs of the elderly and the handicapped were nominated for the award. The panel studied all applications and evaluated the work of each charity based on a set of criteria established by the panel of judges. The Dubai Charity Association was unanimously selected as the recipient of the 2001 award.
Abdulla Bu Shehab, assistant undersecretary at the ministry of labor and social affairs, said "the UAE government has developed many projects and programs that provide necessary care and training, particularly for the handicapped and the elderly.”
Established in 1996, the Dubai Charity Association is a non-profit institute that provides for the special needs of over 3,500 people in the UAE and the Arab World. It offers various types of services including educational, social, and rehabilitation programs for the handicapped – Albawaba.com
