A Dubai Cares funded programme in Palestine is helping preschool teachers to get children reading and using their imagination.
While Dubai Cares supplies teacher training in Gaza, it also reaches children with books and supplies brochures for parents and teachers on how to best use the resources at hand.
However, Reem El Bohisi, a teacher at Hekayat Preschool in Deir Al Balah who took the training, said it requires more than just books to get children involved.
According to the 5th Edition of the Kids and Family Reading Report study by Scholastic, more than half of children who are read to early in life found it to be relaxing – an effect that Ms El Bohisi said was more pertinent in war-stricken areas than anywhere else.
“We are living in hard conditions, this should be clear to everyone by now. So, through education and stories, these students – many of whom have been through a lot – can escape into a different world,” she said.
The programme put her and six colleagues together to hone their skills in teaching literature and pique the interest of children aged three to five.
According to the same study, 40 per cent of pupils worldwide between the ages of six to 11 whose parents stopped reading to them said they wished it had continued.
“A love for reading begins at this age, this is the foundation of so much of their education, and the training gives us more tools to help to implement things, especially after the war,” said Ms El Bohisi.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza was made worse by last year’s war when much of the area’s infrastructure, including its schools, was destroyed.
According to representatives from Dubai Cares, to make matters more difficult, parents and teachers have limited knowledge of the unique care and developmental needs of children growing up in such tense environments.
Maisoun Abedmoeti, one of the teachers who took the preschool teacher training session, said that it was a teacher’s job to give children hope.
“It has fuelled me with positive energy. Life in Gaza has made us lose that sense of inner optimism, and the training helped me to dig deep inside myself and restore it,” said Ms Abedmoeti.
She said reading was a powerful tool to help her own five children overcome their fears during the 50-Day War last year.
She found that their love of reading and their connection to the stories continued.
Hanadi Azeez, a mother of two, shared Ms Abedmoeti’s sentiments and said that education was key in securing hope for her children’s future in a place where many have been robbed of a proper education.
Referring to her daughter Jomana, Ms Azeez said: “I am sometimes surprised by the words she uses and how she can name things so clearly and correctly.
“I am so pleased. What’s a better gift than books to help my children learn.”
She said that her daughter became more excited when she was read a story that she had previously listened to during her school’s reading session.
“I see clearly how important it is to read with them at home and also to encourage our children to read to us,” she said.
Bahaa Hamade, public relations and events manager for Dubai Cares, said: “Today, 250 million children around the world cannot read or write well. Literacy and education at large strengthen future generations in their fight against poverty and instability.”
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
