A new report highlights Saudi aid’s contribution to the wellbeing of developing countries

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Humanitarian relief packages have helped displaced communities survive the winter along the Pakistan border. (Supplied)
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Humanitarian relief packages have helped displaced communities survive the winter along the Pakistan border. (Supplied)
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Humanitarian relief packages have helped displaced communities survive the winter along the Pakistan border. (Supplied)
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KSrelief has supported clinics providing prosthetic limbs to landmine victims in Yemen. (Supplied)
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Saudi Arabia is supporting continuing de-mining operations in Yemen. (Supplied)
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King Salman Relief Center distributes more than 21 tons of food baskets in the Afghan capital on Jan. 6, 2022. (SPA)
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Humanitarian relief packages have helped displaced communities survive the winter along the Pakistan border. (Supplied)
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KSRelief has funded water supply projects in numerous communities in Africa and Asia. (Supplied)
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King Salman Relief Center performed 169 open-heart surgeries and catheterization in the city of Mukalla during the month of December. (SPA)
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Schoolchildren worldwide have also benefitted from Saudi aid. (Supplied)
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Thousands of indigent patients have benefitted from special surgical procedures funded by Saudi aid worldwide. (Supplied)
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King Salman Relief Center continues to distribute shelter aid in a number of Jordanian governorates. (SPA )
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Updated 08 January 2022
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A new report highlights Saudi aid’s contribution to the wellbeing of developing countries

  • KSRelief paper, “Why the World Needs Partnership with Saudi Arabia,” details Kingdom’s long track record of generosity
  • Saudi Arabia has donated significantly to the wellbeing of over 150 countries for more than 46 years

JEDDAH: Since the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 1970 calling on economically advanced countries to contribute at least 0.7 percent of their gross national income to developing countries in aid, the worldwide need for humanitarian and development assistance has moved in only one direction: Upward.

The latest Global Humanitarian Overview notes that 235 million people are in need and face an uncertain future, and that the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered “the deepest global recession since the 1930s.”

Looking on the bright side, however, the past two decades have seen many aid conferences and fund-raising events being organized and a steady increase in the number of aid providers. The humanitarian and development assistance provided by Saudi Arabia alone is a testament to the significant impact that foreign aid, in combination with clear policies, efficiency and accountability, has been making on the lives of people in the recipient countries.

In 2020, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs financial tracking service showed that Saudi Arabia ranked sixth among the world’s most generous donors, providing 3 percent of global humanitarian aid. In October 2021, the Kingdom ranked third among the world’s top donors, its share of humanitarian assistance having risen to 5 percent.

For quite some time, the assistance provided by Saudi Arabia neither received the media recognition it merited nor found prominence in international aid platforms. The Kingdom itself did not publicize data or reports related to foreign aid, opting to keep a low profile in keeping with Saudi culture and the Islamic practice of preserving the dignity of the recipient during charitable giving. 

But now, a research paper titled “Why the World Needs Partnership with Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s Global Humanitarian and Development Aid,” has shed light on how assistance provided by Saudi Arabia to developing countries worldwide has contributed significantly to their well-being.

FASTFACT

$5,211,331,962

Financial support from Saudi Arabia to different UN agencies

Published by the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, the paper unpacks the Kingdom’s humanitarian and development agenda, outlining the various categories of aid, where it is disbursed (by country and region), the targeted sectors and how it has evolved over time. It also highlights Saudi assistance to developing countries in their efforts to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and support provided to in-country refugees.

The author of the paper, Makki Hamid, who is the director of research and information at King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, said the Saudi Fund for Development, the Kingdom’s primary development aid provider, has generously financed projects in different fields — notably health, agriculture, irrigation, electricity and transportation — over the years in a large number of countries.

“Saudi development aid has been provided in forms of grants and concessional loans and has provided significant funding as budget and deposits in central banks of many low- and middle-income countries,” he told Arab News. “Such budget support and deposits contribute to strengthen and enhance the economy of these countries.”

As the paper notes, Saudi Arabia has an extensive history of providing aid to developing countries affected by natural disasters and countries in need of immediate assistance. It was reporting its aid data to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development–Development Assistance Committee for many years as an aggregated data set, until in 2018, when it became a participant member of the OECD–DAC, represented by KSRelief.

KSRelief began collating data from the Kingdom’s different aid providers to proceed with overseas aid via the UNOCHA Financial Tracking Services, the OECD-DAC and the International Aid Transparency Initiative.

Currently, Saudi Arabia provides several categories of Official Development Assistance — namely, humanitarian aid (given during emergencies), development aid (for improving the economic and social well-being of developing countries), and charitable aid (which is provided for cultural or religious purposes, such as building mosques or supporting Hajj pilgrims).

Saudi ODA is provided as financial assistance or in-kind assistance in the form of goods or services to a recipient’s organization or country. It can include food aid, vehicles, logistic support, medical supplies, medicines and equipment. The assistance is delivered through the Saudi Fund for Development, KSRelief and other donor entities registered under a unified database, the Saudi Aid Platform, established by a royal decree in 2018.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia provides aid bilaterally through governments, national non-governmental organizations, international NGOs, and multilaterally through institutions such as the UN agencies concerned and the Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations.

Through strategic partnerships, Saudi Arabia, a founding member of the UN, has provided financial aid totaling $5.2 billion to different UN agencies, with the World Food Program receiving the most ($1.9 billion), followed by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East ($955.5 million).

“Saudi Arabia provides bilateral aid based on a vigorous needs assessment to the countries and institutions eligible to receive such aid. Humanitarian and development projects are carefully identified and risk assessment is done before funding is dispatched,” Hamid told Arab News.

THE LIST

Top 10 ODA recipient countries between 1975-2021:

Yemen

Syria

Palestine

Pakistan

Sudan

Lebanon

Egypt

Morocco

Tunisia

“Funding is also paid in installments linked to clear outcomes. Monitoring and evaluation is carried out during the project implementation period to ensure that aid reaches the beneficiaries and makes the impact intended to achieve.”

Among its many achievements, Saudi Arabia played a prominent role in 2015 in the framing of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which primarily aims to reduce poverty by at least 50 percent by 2030. From 2016 to October 2021, the Kingdom gave $24.04 billion to low- and middle-income countries to enable them to achieve the UN’s sustainable development goals. 

A 2016 report by the UN Development Program noted that assistance provided by Saudi Arabia between 2005-2014 accounted for 1.9 percent of its ODA/GNI, breaking a record for the highest percentage achieved by a single donor.

In November 2020, as the chair of the G20 summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia succeeded in mobilizing donors to commit sizable funding to respond internationally to the COVID-19 pandemic.  According to Hamid’s report, the Kingdom’s COVID-19 international response amounted to over $825 million managed by KSRelief, including vaccines, medical supplies and medical equipment for 33 countries.

A further $10 million in financial support to the World Health Organization’s Solidarity Response Fund and about $300 million for vaccine research were provided by the Kingdom.

Overall, records show that Saudi Arabia, which has derived policy from Islamic teachings since its foundation, has contributed significantly to the well-being of over 150 countries for more than 46 years (1975-2021) through aid totaling $65.7 billion.

INNUMBERS

IN-COUNTRY ASSISTANCE TO “VISITORS”

Exemption from immigration fees $6.68 billion

Education support $4.96 billion

Free healthcare $4.37 billion

“The Kingdom is not a new donor. It has been providing significant humanitarian and development assistance to many countries around the world,” Hamid said, putting Saudi Arabia’s outsized contribution as an aid donor in perspective.

“However, in recent years, aid provided by Saudi Arabia has been systematically documented and registered in international aid platforms. Also, there is significant increase in aid provided by the Kingdom to combat the pandemic and for emergencies to countries such as Yemen, Somalia, Syria and Palestine. These are the factors that have contributed to the rise of Saudi Arabia’s global humanitarian ranking.”

Last but not least, as the paper notes, Saudi Arabia is home to the sixth-largest population of refugees worldwide. The 1.07 million refugees hosted by the Kingdom in recent years are equivalent to 5.5 percent of its population.

Unlike other countries that keep refugees in special camps, Saudi Arabia regards them as visitors, grants them an exemption from immigration fees, provides free healthcare and education for their children and gives them permission to work.

Such assistance and support, contributing to the financial stability of the visitors, amounted to $16.01 billion from 2011 to 2020.


Doctor describes difficulties in separating twins joined at the skull

Baby girls Rital and Ritag Gaboura, two craniopagus twins, lie on a bed at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
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Doctor describes difficulties in separating twins joined at the skull

  • “Conjoined twins are rare, as has been said, but ‘cranomalies’ are extremely rare,” Dr. Felice D’Arco said

RIYADH: A London-based medical expert at a conference in Riyadh revealed the difficulties in separating a rare form of conjoined twins in which the patients are joined at the skull.

Dr. Felice D’Arco, consultant pediatric neurologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, spoke during the International Conference on Conjoined Twins on Sunday about the condition, which occurs in about one of every 2.5 million births worldwide.

“Conjoined twins are rare, as has been said, but ‘cranomalies’ are extremely rare,” he said.

For radiologists, this means there are no standardized CT and MRI scanning protocols in place for such complex cases, and very few recent cases from which to learn.

“We have protocols for everything, epilepsy, tumors, neurogenetic disorders, this is not the case for craniopagus twins because of their rarity,” D’Arco said.

Medical teams must be set in place, and there must be two of everything; two anesthetic teams, two sets of MRI monitoring, etc., the whole hospital staff is involved in what is considered as an operation taking place on two patients simultaneously, D’Arco explained.

While there is a need to standardize procedures, Dr. D’Arco acknowledged that every set of twins is unique.

“As a radiologist, you need to have the flexibility to change your protocol as needed.”

Therefore, he said, it is best to start with a series of questions relating to different critical parts of the body.

One potential issue is the bones. A dual source CT scan can inform radiologists which parts of the skull of each patient is infused, or “missing,” in the other.

Another problem is the relationship between the brains. D’Arco said that small breaches connecting the two brains, identified by 3D sequencing, present a risk that surgery will cause damage.

Considering the possible ethical and medical complications that could come up in cases in which one of the twins is at risk of dying, he said: “Sometimes you need to ask, can we separate without jeopardizing the lives of the children? These cases are complicated, baffling, and confusing.”


Riyadh Music Week to spotlight Saudi talent, creativity

Saudi Arabia’s Music Commission is poised to launch the inaugural Riyadh Music Week, running from Dec. 5 to 14 in the capital.
Updated 29 min 4 sec ago
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Riyadh Music Week to spotlight Saudi talent, creativity

  • Event will include global summits, local performances, awards and cultural displays 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia's Music Commission, in collaboration with MDLBeast and the Saudi Research and Media Group, is poised to launch the inaugural Riyadh Music Week, running from Dec. 5 to 14 at various venues in the Saudi capital.

The event will spotlight the Kingdom’s growing music sector, highlighting its creative and commercial evolution. It will also serve as a platform for dialogue with international stakeholders on music policy and development.

Among the highlights is the Global Music Makers Summit, a premier gathering of industry leaders and policymakers from around the world.

The event will also celebrate Saudi traditional music, with small venues in Riyadh hosting performances to show off local musicians’ diversity and talent.

The week will also host the Music Cities Convention and Awards, which will be held in the Middle East for the first time.

Riyadh Music Week will include panel discussions, seminars and workshops led by industry experts, covering the latest global music trends.

The program incorporates key events from Riyadh’s music calendar, such as XP Music Futures, SoundStorm, and the inaugural Billboard Arabia Music Awards.

The week provides a unique platform for local and international collaboration, celebrating Saudi Arabia’s rich musical heritage and dynamic contemporary scene.

By supporting emerging and established artists, Riyadh Music Week underscores the Kingdom’s commitment to nurturing talent and growing its music industry.

The Saudi Music Commission, established in February 2020, leads this transformation, focusing on equal access to education, empowering talent and boosting the local economy.

Its efforts aim to enhance the Kingdom’s global musical identity while building world-class infrastructure and creating new industry opportunities.


Bangladesh Days celebrates heritage in Riyadh

Updated 24 November 2024
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Bangladesh Days celebrates heritage in Riyadh

RIYADH: The Bangladesh Days, held as part of Riyadh Season under the theme “Global Harmony,” concluded Saturday night at Al-Suwaidi Park, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Organized by the Ministry of Media and the General Entertainment Authority, the event attracted people of all ages and backgrounds, who were able to enjoy a rich cultural experience reflecting the diversity of Bangladeshi heritage.

Bangladesh Days offered visitors the opportunity to taste renowned Bengali cuisine, purchase traditional clothing and artisanal items, and attend folkloric performances.

The activities provided a comprehensive experience, offering a close-up look at the vibrant traditions of Bangladesh and reflecting the cultural diversity Riyadh Season seeks to highlight.

The “Global Harmony” initiative celebrates a variety of cultures, including those of India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sudan, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Bangladesh, and Egypt.

Riyadh Season has already drawn more than 6 million visitors from around the world, according to Turki Al-Sheikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority.


The inspiring story behind Saudi Arabia’s Conjoined Twins Program

Updated 24 November 2024
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The inspiring story behind Saudi Arabia’s Conjoined Twins Program

RIYADH: Ahead of the International Conference on Conjoined Twins held in Riyadh, Saudi aid agency KSrelief Supervisor-General Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah hosted a media roundtable on Saturday to discuss the goals and expectations of the two-day conference that concludes on Nov. 25.

Recalling the inspiration behind the Saudi Conjoined Twins Program, Al-Rabeeah explained that in 1990, amid the Second Gulf War, a set of Sudanese conjoined twins, Samah and Heba, were seeking financial support from King Fahd to get treatment abroad.

King Fahd brought the issue to Al-Rabeeah’s team at the time at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, and after months of tests and deliberations, they completed the first successful conjoined twins separation surgery in the Kingdom.

The operation took 18 and a half hours.

“We started to invest in the nationalization of the medical team until … all specialties were from Saudi Arabia,” Al-Rabeeah said. “Today we have seen 143 sets over 34 years. We have separated 61 sets with 100 percent success … and we have 7 sets waiting to be separated.”

King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital now has the only known conjoined twins operating room.

King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman moved this program under KSrelief to support low-income families and families from conflict zones.

“Humanity has no politics, no boundaries, no religion, and no color,” said Al-Rabeeah.

The conference will cover a range of topics, including the candidacy process, antenatal and post-natal care, cardiac conditions, ethical considerations, reconstruction, and 3D imaging.

Al-Rabeeah also said the conference is set to discuss and sign several UN agreements related to children, including on conjoined twins, polio vaccination in Afghanistan, artificial limbs, infectious diseases in children, and the children of Gaza.

He also spoke about the importance of combining medical knowledge in the Gulf and working together to create specialized centers across the region for different matters, to make operations more cost-effective and advanced.

“Science is not owned, it is for everybody,” the Saudi aid agency chief said.

On the technological developments that are optimizing this procedure, Al-Rabeeah mentioned the use of argon lasers, ultrasonic knives, new electric coatings to avoid bleeding, less sensitive prosthetics, and, most importantly, early diagnosis.

Al-Rabeeah said that the greatest research in this program has been done on early detection of conjoined twins in the womb. They are now capable of detecting conjoined twins sometimes at just eight to 10 weeks.

Al-Rabeeah’s most crucial piece of advice is urging women to start prenatal care early.

The importance of psychological care for both the patients and the families was also discussed. Al-Rabeeah pointed out what is referred to as “separation trauma” that twins endure when learning how to adjust to their bodies after having been connected all their lives.

“The twins, they have pain, they have suffered. I have seen two kinds of tears in my life. We all know about the tears of despair, the tears of pain. But with conjoined twins, I have seen clearly the tears of happiness and joy.

“When I come out of the operating room, going in with one bed, and coming out with two beds … this is the best moment in my life.”


Separated twins, families visit 2034 World Cup exhibit, historic At-Turaif district

Updated 24 November 2024
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Separated twins, families visit 2034 World Cup exhibit, historic At-Turaif district

RIYADH: Saudi aid agency KSrelief organized a special visit for conjoined twins who had undergone separation surgeries in the Kingdom, along with their families, to Saudi Arabia’s 2034 World Cup bid exhibition.

The visit was organizaed on the sidelines of the International Conference on Conjoined Twins, held in Riyadh from Nov. 24-25.

The twins and their families also toured the historic At-Turaif district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its stunning architecture, which reflects Saudi Arabia’s scientific and cultural advances.

At the end of the visit, the twins and their families expressed their gratitude to the Kingdom, represented by KSrelief, for organizing the visit and for the warm hospitality of the Saudi people.