Brussels – 30 September 2013 – SWIFT, the financial messaging provider for more than 10,000 financial institutions and corporations in 212 countries, today announced that it has donated €35,300 (AED 176,500) to local charity the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC),as part of its activities during the company’s 35th annual Sibos Conference. A conference, exhibition and networking event organised by SWIFT for the financial services industry, this was the first Sibos to be held in the Middle East and was hosted at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
To celebrate this, SWIFT donated funds for the elected charity- DFWAC- through a charity engagement initiative called ‘‘Wishing Well”. Sibos delegates were given a token worth €10 (50 AED) and were encouraged to toss the token into a “wishing well” alongside a totalizer charting the running total of tokens collected and their value. SWIFT then donated the total value of the tokens, which amounted to AED 176,500 or €35,300.
DFWAC is a licensed non-profit shelter in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for women and children that are victims of domestic violence, child abuse, and human trafficking. The Foundation provides a helpline, emergency shelter and support services to women and children, also raising awareness through education and outreach.
“SWIFT has a long history of supporting local charities in each of our Sibos locations”, said Sven Bossu, Head of Sibos, SWIFT. “We are thrilled that Sibos delegates got behind our ‘Wishing Well’ initiative and generated much needed funds for the Dubai Foundation for Women & Children, which serves as a lifeline for many women and children exposed to abuse across the UAE”.