Philanthropy and Social Investment in the Middle East

12th April 2019 admin 0 Comments

Culture and religion in the Middle East are closely linked with philanthropy. One of the five pillars in Islam is ‘zakat’, making it mandatory to donate if one is able. For this reason faith is an important influence on HNWI giving.

There are some interesting differences about the motivation for giving in Middle East, Europe and Asia. According to past research, reported in PhilanthropyAge, the majority of Middle East HNWI donations are to support social change by investments in areas such as education and gender equality.

The purpose of this edition is to learn about the different approaches to philanthropy and social investment in the Middle East.

Magazine contents

From charity to strategic giving: the quest to bring about longterm change in the Middle East

11 April 2019

Magazine article

I first visited the Middle East in 1993 as the new Director of the Said Foundation, embarking on a quest to discover how we could work more effectively there. I…

Convergence: can Arab philanthropists and investors meet on the impact continuum?

11 April 2019

Magazine article

The impact investment community in the Arab region is growing. However, unlike other regions and in the absence of relevant language – the term is difficult to translate into Arabic…