Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Chairperson of The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF) and Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has emphasized that humanitarian work is a cornerstone of global development; crucial to achieving sustainable development goals, promoting social equity and advancing relations between nations.

Her Highness met Her Excellency Maryam Mwinyi, First Lady of Zanzibar, Wife of HE President of Zanzibar, and founder of the Maisha Bora Foundation (ZMBF), at the Presidential Palace during an official visit to the United Republic of Tanzania. The two humanitarian champions convened to explore collaboration between TBHF and ZMBF, specifically designed to empower women and youth, in line with Zanzibar’s developmental agenda focused on utilizing local resources and boosting its blue economy.

The meeting was attended by His Excellency Khalifa Abdulrahman Al Marzouqi, UAE Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania; His Excellency Saleh Al-Theeb Alhemeiri, Consul General of the UAE in Zanzibar; Her Excellency Noura Al Noman, Director of the Executive Office of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi; and Her Excellency Mariam Al Hammadi, Director General of TBHF.

The other attendees included the Honorable Dr. Riziki Pembe Juma, Minister for Community, Development, Gender, Elderly, and Children in Zanzibar; Dr. Ellen Mkondya Senkoro, Member of ZMBF; Fatma Fungo, CEO of ZMBF; and representatives from Zanzibar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Exemplary global humanitarian models

During the meeting, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher underscored the pivotal role of TBHF and ZMBF as exemplary models of innovative humanitarian work. Both organizations prioritize long-term development projects, strategically focusing on harnessing and enhancing local human resources, building skills, and empowering communities to take ownership of their development. These initiatives are closely aligned with the UAE’s broader vision for sustainable humanitarian efforts and reflect the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to empower disadvantaged communities and foster self-reliance.

Her Highness said: “Global humanitarian work has seen a profound shift recently, with a growing focus on empowering local communities to pursue their development independently. Short-term aid, while crucial in emergencies, is no longer sufficient. We must now focus on sustained support, ensuring that those in need are equipped to pursue their own development independently. This strategic shift is embodied in ZMBF’s initiatives, which have successfully enabled women and youth to shape their futures through impactful, self-sustaining projects.”

Future cooperation between TBHF and Maisha Bora

During the meeting, ZMBF made a detailed presentation to the attending officials outlining their shared vision and mission with TBHF, and their special focus on empowering local women and youth through projects focused on leveraging and utilizing local resources, sustainable development to under-resourced communities worldwide by targeting key sectors of education, healthcare, unemployment, and youth and women empowerment, amongst others.

For her part, the First Lady of Zanzibar, Her Excellency Maryam Mwinyi, praised the humanitarian efforts of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher on an international level: “I am pleased to welcome Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi, the accompanying delegation, and the TBHF team in Zanzibar, a country that shares strong ties with the UAE. We look forward to strengthening ties through our humanitarian institutions, which aim to improve the quality of life and future of our community, because they deserve it. We hope to establish close and effective partnerships with TBHF, led by Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher, to support our shared efforts in enhancing the society’s development in Zanzibar.”

Her Highness and the First Lady visited one of ZMBF’s flagship project locations. The seaweed farm empowers women and youth through planting, harvesting and processing, producing a range of products, including food and skincare items and securing external markets. This initiative is designed to strengthen the economic empowerment of the local community, allowing individuals to drive their own economic advancement. The project has effectively addressed critical challenges in seaweed farming, such as low quality and productivity, high post-harvest losses, a lack of entrepreneurial skills, lack of equipment for farmers, limited adoption of new technologies, low male and youth engagement, and the high transportation costs from farms to drying facilities.

Women and children are the foundation and focus of TBHF’s sustainable projects.

Commenting on the strategic importance of ZMBF’s initiatives, Her Highness stated: “It is particularly inspiring to witness the diverse range of projects tailored to meet the specific needs of local communities. Particularly, investing in projects that provide real opportunities for empowering women and enhancing their professional and financial capabilities. This sends a clear message that humanitarian work is conscious and well-planned, with high impact on economies and societies is both positive and long-lasting.

Enabling local communities to take charge of their own economic advancement

Both parties explored opportunities to leverage their deep expertise in community development to work together in future to drive far-reaching impact in their respective communities. They also discussed the need to establish strong local partnerships in order to pave the way for innovative grass root level projects that will not only meet the specific needs of their target communities, but also maximize the use of available resources.