A global fundraising initiative that aims to help provide Syrian children a safe shelter will be held in Dubai next weekend.
Cook for Syria, a global movement in partnership with Unicef, will be hosting a charity dinner for UAE residents. All of the proceeds from the initiative will go to Unicef’s Children of Syria Fund.
#CookForSyria first started as a simple supper club, where a group of foodie friends came together to celebrate Syrian cuisine and raise money to help Unicef protect Syrian children. Since its inception, more than 50 top restaurants and cafes have been involved, over 100 recipes have been donated and £350,000 (Dh1.79million) have been raised. Now, the official Cook for Syria charity dinner, founded by Clerkenwell Boy, will be held at the dining space of INKED, a creative entity in Dubai, on March 2.
Dalia Dogmoch, a Dubai-based culinary personality and recipe contributor for the #CookForSyriaRecipeBook (a book which is also part of the initiative), has brought the movement to Dubai.
“I wanted to bring this to Dubai because it’s a human duty to help, in my opinion. It is not necessarily that a lot of people want to help, but it’s a bit complicated on how we actually do it.”
The dinner will be a four-course modern-Syrian meal, with recipes taken out of the Cook For Syria Recipe Book. There are 120 seats available and each ticket is at a cost of Dh495.
“Hundred per cent of the proceeds go to charity,” Dogmoch told Khaleej Times. “For one meal at INKED Dubai, two children are placed in a safe and child friendly location and out of harms. One of out three kids in Syria is in danger, and as we see right now, in the past few days alone, 150 kids have died.”
More than 450 civilians, including children, have been killed in the air strikes last week, as the Syrian government bombarded the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Last week, Unicef issued a blank statement and 10 blank lines, resulting from the increasing death toll in Eastern Ghouta saying they have no longer have any words to describe the atrocity that struck the city and started a hashtag on social media #RunningOutOfWords and #ChildrenUnderAttack.
“It’s the worst human catastrophe of the century. The one thing about charity is that people think it’s daunting and that their contributions might not make a difference.
“What I really appreciate about this particular charity is that it doesn’t matter what side you’re on. This is going to Syrian children – no sides are taken. It’s easy to take part. If we can do something in such an easy way, especially by just a click of button, we can get two kids to safety,” Dogmoch said.