Dubai’s endowment authority has completed the Waqf Tadawi Medical Project in Al Satwa, creating a sustainable funding channel to help low-income patients and humanitarian medical cases access treatment through Al Tadawi Healthcare Group.The project, developed by the Endowment and Minors’ Trust Foundation in Dubai, known as Awqaf Dubai, is designed to generate recurring returns rather than rely only on one-off donations. Its income will be directed towards medical care for patients unable to meet treatment costs, reinforcing the role of waqf assets in public welfare and healthcare support.
The Al Satwa project marks the delivery of an initiative first launched in November 2022 in partnership with Al Tadawi Healthcare Group. The development was planned on a 233.74-square-metre plot and comprises a ground floor, two upper floors, shops, parking and service areas. The land and construction costs were valued at about AED8 million at the time of launch.
Awqaf Dubai said the project forms part of a broader strategy to expand developmental endowments in sectors with direct social impact. Healthcare has become a prominent focus as authorities and philanthropic institutions seek longer-term funding models for treatment, medical research and patient assistance programmes.
Ali Al Mutawa, secretary-general of Awqaf Dubai, has previously described healthcare endowments as central to preserving lives and widening access to treatment for people who cannot afford care. The foundation’s approach is to manage endowment assets professionally, invest them to generate returns, and channel proceeds towards designated social purposes.
Al Tadawi Healthcare Group, led by chairman and chief executive Marwan Ibrahim Haji Nasser, is expected to provide medical services under the initiative. The partnership gives the endowment a defined healthcare delivery route, linking asset-generated income with treatment capacity in Dubai’s private medical sector.
The completion of Waqf Tadawi comes as Dubai continues to strengthen institutional giving through structured endowments. Awqaf Dubai announced AED74.7 million in endowment investment returns for 2025 this month, with proceeds allocated to nine government and semi-government entities. The funds are earmarked for healthcare, education, social welfare, medical research, care services for People of Determination and humanitarian programmes.
That wider distribution reflects the emirate’s move to place waqf activity within a formal governance and investment framework. Rather than treating charity as a short-term relief tool, the model seeks to preserve capital, improve investment performance and use recurring proceeds for designated public needs. Healthcare endowments are gaining attention because treatment costs can place sustained pressure on families with limited income, especially where insurance cover is insufficient or unavailable.
Dubai’s endowment sector has been expanding beyond traditional religious and charitable uses into education, social care, medical treatment and specialised health facilities. Awqaf Dubai and Al Jalila Foundation also agreed in 2025 to develop a separate AED38.5 million endowment facility supporting patients at Hamdan Bin Rashid Cancer Hospital. That seven-storey project in Dubai South is intended to generate revenue for specialised cancer treatment, underlining how property-backed waqf structures are being used to support high-cost healthcare.
Waqf Tadawi is smaller in scale but significant in its targeted community function. Al Satwa is a dense urban district with a mixed residential and commercial profile, and its location gives the project visibility within a part of Dubai associated with working communities and small businesses. By combining shops and income-generating property space with a healthcare-linked purpose, the development is structured to produce returns while retaining its charitable mandate.
The project also aligns with Dubai’s broader social policy emphasis on partnerships between public institutions, private operators and philanthropic bodies. Such models allow healthcare providers to participate in community support without shifting the entire burden to hospital balance sheets or temporary fundraising campaigns. For patients, the practical value depends on clear eligibility criteria, efficient referral mechanisms and transparent allocation of funds.
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