Abu Dhabi student concert raises more than Dh60,000 for Somalian children

The Aldar Academies Collaboration Concert raised the money through the UAE charity SmallWorld.

A Somali boy sits outside his makeshift hut at a camp for Somalians displaced by the drought in Qardho, Somalia, in March. Ben Curtis / AP Photo

ABU DHABI // A student concert in the capital has raised Dh60,680 for Somalian children in need.

The Aldar Academies Collaboration Concert raised the money through SmallWorld, a UAE charity and the concert’s partner.

The concert at Emirates Palace Theatre last week, attended by about 1,100 people, featured dancing and singing by about 600 pupils from Aldar Academies’ seven private schools.

It was held under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development.

“Through their charitable efforts, our students also learnt the importance of helping and respecting others,” said Nilay Ozral, chief executive of Aldar Academies.

The education provider has raised more than Dh376,000 to aid children since it launched its fundraising initiative in 2014.

Aldar Academies has raised funds to build a school library for Ethiopian orphans, provided aid to Nepalese orphans after the earthquake in 2015, and donated money to the Children’s Special Care Centre in Abu Dhabi.

SmallWorld has educated more than 7,000 children in 39 countries.

Last month, the UAE announced a Dh500 million aid campaign – For You Somalia – to save hundreds of thousands of Somalian children who faced starvation.

The country is experiencing its third famine in 25 years. The United Nations assistance mission in Somalia said the drought had left 6.2 million people in need of aid.

The severity of the drought displaced large numbers of people in rural areas, and the crisis had been exacerbated by diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and measles, the mission said last month.