Ashraf AboArafe
The activities of the fourth session of the Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum, entitled “Exploring the Future of Humanitarian Response”, were launched today under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region – on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.
The forum was also attended by His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency the Supervisor General of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid, Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah, a number of Their Royal Highnesses the Princes, Ministers, members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Kingdom, and leaders of local, Gulf, Arab and international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and UN organizations working in the humanitarian field and experts in it.
In his speech at the opening of the forum, His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh Region, stressed that the increase in disasters and crises in the world has exacerbated humanitarian needs and challenges. This forum is being held to shed light on the groups most affected and impacted by these circumstances, and to provide a platform to discuss the most important challenges that hinder humanitarian work, which can only be overcome by the combined efforts of the international community. He explained that the Kingdom has worked throughout its history to provide support and assistance to many brotherly and friendly countries in facing disasters and crises with an amount exceeding 100 million US dollars, and this journey was crowned with the establishment of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Action a decade ago, which contributed – thanks to God Almighty – to providing assistance to millions of the most needy groups in more than 100 countries through the implementation of more than 3,000 humanitarian projects with an amount exceeding 7 billion US dollars.
For his part, His Highness Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs, stressed in his speech the Kingdom’s keenness throughout its history to extend a helping hand to countries and peoples in need and to provide relief to the afflicted in the world without discrimination, until it became one of the major donor countries for humanitarian and development aid at the international level, as the total humanitarian and relief aid provided by the Kingdom exceeded 133 billion dollars, benefiting more than 172 countries.
He said: Under the directives of the wise leadership – may God support it – the Kingdom launched a group of different campaigns to help brothers in countries affected by The most prominent of these is the popular campaign in which the Saudi people contributed to the relief of their Palestinian brothers with a total donation of more than 700 million riyals, in addition to the “Masam” project to remove and clear mines from Yemeni lands, as the project has contributed since 2018 to removing more than 430,000 mines to reduce direct threats to the lives of the Yemeni people.
He added: Since the beginning of the Sudanese crisis, the Kingdom has taken the initiative by harnessing diplomatic efforts to work on the Jeddah 1 and Jeddah 2 agreements, which contributed to ensuring the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need, and implementing the first sea evacuation operation in the world for those stranded in Sudan from citizens and nationals of sister countries, which contributed to rescuing more than 8,400 people from 110 different countries.
In turn, Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, said that the center has undertaken to deliver goodness to those in need in 106 countries at a cost exceeding 7.3 billion US dollars, through which 3,355 relief projects were implemented directly, or through its UN, international and local partners, whose number reached 466 organizations, so that the volume of Saudi giving over the past five decades exceeded 133.8 billion US dollars, in addition to being one of the largest international centers that implement external volunteer projects, as it implemented 876 volunteer projects in 52 countries, in addition to its active participation with the United Nations in supporting global humanitarian trends, including the Sustainable Development Goals, and contributing to the development of creative access mechanisms, and achieving a strong and sustainable impact.
His Excellency appealed to the donor community and partners of success from the public and private sectors in all countries of the world to provide the necessary support for humanitarian work to improve the efficiency and speed of response, and meet urgent humanitarian appeals.
On the sidelines of the forum, Dr. Al Rabeeah signed a third agreement with the President of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Mohammed Sulaiman Al Jasser, to support the Lives and Livelihoods Fund – Phase II, the largest development initiative of its kind in the Middle East, worth $100 million, with a unique global partnership to build a better future for the member states of the Islamic Development Bank, and the fourth agreement with the Executive Director of the World Food Program, Cindy McCain, to distribute 100,000 tons of dates in 30 countries around the world.
