Muscat – To encourage people to donate and in solidarity of charitable organisations, the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs (MERA) launched an initiative called ‘2023 – The Year of Endowments’, on Thursday.

H E Dr Mohammed Said al Maamari, Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, has affirmed that the ministry seeks to develop the endowments sector and its governance in line with the goals of Oman Vision 2040.

About the ministry’s efforts to spread the importance of endowments among community members, an official at MERA said, “Endowments are of great religious and societal importance. The ministry issued the Corporate Governance Guide for private charitable institutions in 2019 and an electronic portal for endowments – ‘Waqf’ – in 2022.”

Elaborating on the Waqf initiative, the official informed that Imam Jabir bin Zaid Waqf Foundation launched the endowments partnership portal, which aims to improve community-based endowment services and offer digitised solutions to streamline humanitarian donations.

The ministry also launched an electronic system of endowments in 2022. “It is a comprehensive scheme that organises the process of compiling and registering endowments and those managing these activities in Oman. The system will ultimately electronically connect all parties involved, including donors and people responsible for managing endowments, as well as public and private entities.”