The quick service restaurant will build awareness, fundraise and hold volunteering events at local schools, providing education access in Qatar to marginalised children.

In line with its commitment to supporting the community every day, McDonald’s Qatar signed a partnership with Education Above All (EAA) to support the foundation’s programmes for two years through awareness-building, fundraising, and volunteering. 

To celebrate the partnership launch, McDonald’s Qatar hosted a Happy Day at the First and Second Assalam Schools, which was attended by development license partner and licensee for McDonald’s Qatar, Mr. Kamal Saleh Al Mana, General Manager of McDonald’s Qatar, Mr. Mithqual Abu Nasser, and EAA Programme Director, Talal Al-Hothal.

During the day, executives toured the school while children engaged in fun activities and received Happy Meal Boxes.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Kamal Saleh Al Mana, said, “As we have in the past, McDonald’s Qatar – a 100% locally owned and operated company – continues to prioritise its responsibility towards strengthening the foundation of the community in which we operate and finding ways to serve bright futures, in addition to tasty food.

Through our partnership with Education Above All Foundation, we underscore our commitment to the idea, enshrined in Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030, that for true development to occur, a prosperous society should have access to quality education, especially for its deserving children.”

For his part, Talal Al-Hothal, the EAA director overseeing the Together Project that is running the partnership on behalf of the Foundation, said: “This agreement outlines what promises to be a fruitful partnership. We are looking forward to cooperating with McDonald’s Qatar to whom we extend our thanks for supporting our mission to broaden educational access, particularly for children from marginalised backgrounds.  Education is the key to unlocking the Sustainable Development Goals.  By supporting education we not only empower our youth, but build a more prosperous future for Qatar.”

Under the partnership, donations will be collected directly at the restaurant counters, by asking McDonald’s Qatar customers if they would like to add as little as 1 QAR to their total bill before enjoying the meal purchased.

Additionally, McDonald’s Qatar is committed to participating in key activations and local events, which are organised by EAA.

EAA, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and national charitable organisations, initiated mechanisms in 2019 to support children in Qatar with access to education through the establishment of specialised, tuition-free schools entitled “Assalam.” 

The two partners will also schedule periodic volunteering programmes, whereby McDonald’s Qatar employees will participate in ‘Happy Days’ hosted in Assalam Schools.

It is worth noting that this partnership comes as the first initiative under the new, bigger umbrella of Corporate Social Responsibility for McDonald’s Qatar: ‘Rahalatuna.’

The platform ’Rahalatuna’ – or ‘Our Journeys’ – serves as McDonald’s Qatar’s bold commitment to QNV 2030’s ‘Human Development’ pillar; which fulfils the company’s vision of giving back to the community as well as feeding as fostering communities.

Rahalatuna engages the community’s youth, each of whom is on their unique journey-to-greatness, productively and positively through building their skills, broadening their vision, and rewarding their successes.