Ashraf AboArafe
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) participated in the 21st edition of the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition (DIHAD 2025), held from April 29 to May 1, 2025. The event brought together representatives from NGOs, UN agencies, charitable organizations, government bodies, and private sector providers of relief, educational, and construction services.
KSrelief showcased the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s global humanitarian efforts to support vulnerable and crisis-affected populations. Speaking during a keynote session titled “Globalization and Localization: The Actors,” Dr. Hanaa Omar, Director of Partnerships and International Relations at KSrelief, highlighted that the Center has provided over \$7.8 billion in humanitarian aid worldwide. She emphasized that KSrelief’s core strategy focuses on building effective partnerships with local organizations, a strategy that has resulted in collaboration with more than 184 local partners through a specialized electronic platform that enables registration and accreditation of humanitarian organizations based on international standards.
Dr. Omar underscored the vital importance of localizing humanitarian work, particularly in complex and hard-to-reach environments like Sudan and the Gaza Strip. She stressed that local partners played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, acting as primary channels for aid delivery. She called for greater inclusion of these partners in decision-making processes and capacity-building efforts to ensure a more efficient and sustainable humanitarian response.
She also emphasized the need to address barriers to localization by fostering strong partnerships that prioritize listening to local actors, understanding their needs, enhancing their capabilities, and enacting flexible legal frameworks that reflect the realities of humanitarian work while adhering to its core principles: neutrality, independence, and impartiality.
Dr. Omar presented KSrelief’s “CFAAC” (Child Fighters Awareness and Assistance Campaign) project in Yemen as a successful model of localized humanitarian action. Since 2017, the project has directly benefited 755 children affected by armed conflict and indirectly reached over 84,000 people. The initiative was implemented in partnership with a local organization to ensure cultural sensitivity and long-term impact.
The DIHAD 2025 conference aims to align the efforts of humanitarian service providers and government institutions and strengthen cooperation among stakeholders to develop innovative solutions to support communities affected by crises and natural disasters worldwide.
