Combating Poverty and Disease

The need to combat poverty and disease

More than one billion people suffer from extreme poverty, living on less than one dollar a day, while more than 2.7 billion struggle to survive with an income less than two dollars a day.

However, poverty in the developing world goes far beyond a lack of income. Poverty can mean the need to walk for miles every day just to get water, not to mention some 750 million people worldwide who do not have access to potable water in the first place. Poverty is also manifested in the fact that every minute a child dies from water-related diseases. Humanitarian aid is also lacking: despite the increases, it can only meet two-thirds of global demand.

Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives offer a helping hand to those in need wherever in the world they may be, not solely by providing aid, but by combating the root causes of poverty and disease. These programmes have assisted 40 million people in 99 countries by 2015.

What we aim to achieve

In the fight against the spread of disease, our programmes have prevented and treated blindness for 23 million people and provided 81 million vaccines and medications in the past eight years.

These programmes have protected 3.6 million children in vulnerable countries from intestinal worms, which threaten their future, hinder their access to education, and prevent them from leading healthy lives. We have built 46 hospitals and provided drinking water for 6.5 million people.

In the field of ​​combating poverty, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives and its affiliated bodies have given financial and practical support to more than 1.5 million disadvantaged households in 40 countries. We constructed the largest infrastructure and logistics system in the world on an area of ​​700,000 square feet to provide facilities and services for charitable and humanitarian institutions.

What we achieved so far

23 million

people treated and protected from blindness

81 million

distributed vaccines and medications to treat blindness

3,6 million

children protected from intestinal worms


hospitals built

1.5 million

households in 40 countries provided with support and relief


Sqft world’s largest humanitarian hub

6.5 million

People provided with drinking water


How we combat poverty and disease

Affiliated institutions working on combating poverty and disease

Strategic Partners