UAE-based ride-hailing app Careem said on Tuesday that it is to hire 200 refugees as part of an initiative with the UN.
The company plans to work alongside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to provide opportunities across its operations, spread over 100 cities in 14 countries.
"To meet this commitment, Careem will involve refugees within its operations by providing opportunities for jobs and internships, as well as workshops and mentoring. We aim to achieve this project by 2023," a spokesperson for Careem told The National.
Call centres and Careem's social media departments are some of the teams that will participate in the initiative.
The announcement came during an event by the World Bank and Tent Partnership for Refugees on the sidelines of the United Nation's General Assembly in New York, which focused on the public and private sector working together to solve the refugee crisis.
“We don’t believe that integrating refugees in our business is a noble cause. We believe it is our duty, responsibility and it makes business sense,” Magnus Olsson, Careem's co-founder said.
Khalid Khalifa, UNHCR's regional representative in the Gulf, said that the UN requires the help of the private sector, governments, international organisations and the public to be able to provide those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes with a decent and dignified way of living.
"The refugee crisis is one that is very close to home to the people and corporations of the Middle East and North Africa region, and one that cannot be solved or supported by one organisation alone," Mr Khalifa said.
In May 2017, Careem launched a new feature in partnership with UNHCR to allow passengers to donate towards the support of refugees and displaced people in the Middle East.
"This was done by creating a specific car type that customers can book on the app, which was called UNHCR. The car type lets customers donate three dirhams of their total ride fare," the spokeswoman said.
Customers have taken over 250,000 journeys since the launch of the initiative, resulting in donations of more than US$300,000.
The initiative was created in line with the UAE’s Year of Giving last year, launched by President Shiekh Khalifa bin Zayed.
Careem also had Yousef, a refugee from a camp in Jordan, take over their Instagram handle for 24 hours.
"He showed us his life in the camp and talked about his dream to become an international photographer. When the community learnt that he aspired to become a photographer, [e-commerce company] noon approached us to facilitate sending him a camera and customers approached us to send him the accessories associated with it," the spokeswoman said.
Careem sent Yousef the camera on World Refugee Day, June 20, this year.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
