How ramped-up Saudi foreign aid is helping the world’s neediest

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A KSrelief project to combat eye disease in Nigeria. (Supplied)
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Updated 10 June 2022
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How ramped-up Saudi foreign aid is helping the world’s neediest

  • Kingdom has a long history of assistance for developing countries, led by Saudi Fund for Development
  • Many Arab countries are reeling from the economic impacts of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine

DUBAI: The creation of a joint development fund with France to assist Lebanon is the latest in a string of announcements signaling a ramp-up in Saudi aid to Middle East and North African countries being pushed deeper into debt by conflict and crisis.

The fund, unveiled in April, made an initial $30 million pledge to support food security in Lebanon and the country’s crippled health sector, according to a statement from the French embassy.

Funds will also be used for humanitarian projects that will provide emergency aid to the country’s most vulnerable communities and help improve access to primary healthcare in the northern city of Tripoli.

Before Lebanon, it was Mauritania, a desert country in northwest Africa with only 0.5 percent of arable land, that received significant assistance from the Kingdom.




KSRelief medical volunteers performed critical surgeries for indigents in Mauritania in 2020. (Supplied)

In April, Saudi Arabia converted its $300 million deposit with the Mauritania central bank into a soft loan as part of efforts to develop the country’s economy, and encourage regional and international investment.

Across the African continent, Saudi Arabia has provided more than $7 billion in development, humanitarian and charitable projects, covering food security, health and education, according to the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, the Kingdom’s leading aid agency.

Since its establishment in 2015 KSrelief has built on the Kingdom’s long history of helping developing countries.

In late May, the agency delivered humanitarian assistance worth $3.2 million to the Philippines, which included $1.7 million of medical equipment to help fight COVID-19. 




Saudi officials deliver $3.2 million worth of aid to the Philippines last month to mitigate the impacts of Typhoon Rai and to help health relief and emergency works in Marawi City. (Supplied)

A further $1.5 million is earmarked to help the Philippines Ministry of Health alleviate the impact of Typhoon Rai, alongside health relief and emergency works for the southern city of Marawi. 

During Ramadan, it gave cash support to more than 900 individuals in 19 countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen and Chad, through the Saudi Ramadan Eta’am initiative.

KSrelief distributed 500 Ramadan food baskets to Afghan families in the Char Asiab district of Kabul and 887 food baskets to households in the Chadian city of Massenya, benefiting 5,322 people.




KSrelief workers distributes Ramadan food baskets at the camps of Rohingya refugees in April 2022. (SPA)

The agency also implemented more than 40 humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, targeting food security, health, education, water and sanitation.

Meanwhile, in Yemen’s war-scarred Marib governorate, KSrelief has provided more than 72 tons of food, helping 4,080 people.

According to KSrelief, Yemen has received the largest share of aid spending at $4 billion, covering everything from health services, nutrition, shelter and education to sanitation, emergency communications and logistics.




Saudi Arabia continues to contribute to school projects, particularly in Yemen where tens of thousands of schoolchildren have been affected by the ongoing war between the government and the Iran-backed Houthi militia. (Supplied)

In early April, KSrelief announced a nutrition project aimed at children under 5, as well as pregnant and nursing women, in the Yemeni governorates of Lahij, Taiz, Aden, Hodeidah, Hajjah, Marib and Hadramout.

At the end of March, it announced a $7 million contribution to support education programs in Yemen run by the UN children’s fund UNICEF. The donation is set to improve access to quality education for 578,000 children.

In January, KSrelief signed an agreement with the UN’s migration agency IOM to provide 150,000 Yemenis with shelter, hygiene services, sanitation and clean water.




KSrelief's general supervisor, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah. (Supplied) 

During a recent lecture at the Islamic University of Madinah, Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, general supervisor of KSrelief, said that Saudi foreign aid between 1996 and 2021 totalled $94.6 billion, delivered to 165 countries.

KSrelief has carried on the work spearheaded by the Saudi Fund for Development, established in 1974. But Saudi Arabia’s charitable initiatives go back even further.

“Since its founding, the Kingdom has been keen to help crisis-affected countries,” Samer Al-Jetaily, a spokesperson for KSrelief, told Arab News. “It has spared no effort to help those in need around the world. Its commitment to providing relief and assistance is based on its noble humanitarian values.”

According to Al-Jetaily, KSrelief has implemented some 1,997 humanitarian projects in 84 countries worth $5.7 billion, focusing on areas ranging from education, healthcare and food security to shelter, sanitation and protection.

KSrelief is the only authority in Saudi Arabia permitted to receive and deliver cash and in-kind assistance to people overseas, regulate and supervise external charitable work, license charitable institutions internationally, and set the structure for other humanitarian work.

The Kingdom’s humanitarian efforts have expanded in tandem with major changes in the way citizens donate to charity.

FASTFACTS

Since 2015, KSrelief has implemented around 2,000 projects in 84 countries worth $5.7 billion.

The Saudi aid agency has implemented 815 projects aimed at women at a cost of $533 million.

Children around the world have benefited from 730 projects at a cost of $769 million.

(Source: KSrelief)

The country’s digital transformation has led to the creation of regulated donation services, including KSrelief, Ehsan, Shefaa and the National Donations Platform, all developed and supervised by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority.

Ehsan, launched in 2021, enables philanthropists and donors to choose from a selection of charitable causes, ranging from social and economic issues to health, education and the environment.

By focusing on individual values and specific societal issues, the platform aims to encourage a greater sense of social responsibility among the public and private-sector organizations, while also promoting a culture of transparency in charitable giving.

Last year, King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made multiple donations via Ehsan that pushed the platform’s total figure past the SR1 billion mark.




Ehsan has made it easier for Saudi Arabia’s residents to donate to causes such as renovating and furnishing the homes of the needy, giving food baskets to families, and providing care for the elderly. (SPA)

Since its launch, Ehsan has received more than SR1.4 billion ($373.2 million) in donations, which have been distributed to more than 4.3 million beneficiaries.

The National Donations Platform also connects donors with needy individuals across the Kingdom, while ensuring a reliable and secure digital donation process supervised by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development.

To date, more than 3.5 million people, including orphans, the sick, the elderly and those living in substandard housing, have benefited from money gifted through the platform.

These regulated official platforms were designed to ensure donations go to those genuinely in need, and to prevent funds falling into the hands of fraudsters and even terrorist groups looking to exploit public generosity.

“The Kingdom hopes that the assistance it provides will contribute to ensuring that all people are able to live safe, healthy, dignified lives,” Al-Jetaily told Arab News.




Many underprivileged people in the Middle East and Africa have benefitted from Saudi Arabia's medical aid missions through the years. (Supplied)

“The aid provided globally is impartial, based solely on the needs of its beneficiaries.”

With many Arab countries struggling to overcome the economic blows of the pandemic, as well as the inflationary impact of the war in Ukraine on food and fuel prices, charitable donations are needed more than ever.

Lebanon is a case in point. While many nations have been reluctant to provide aid until its government implements much-needed economic reforms, Saudi Arabia and France chose to establish the joint development fund to help the Lebanese people.

Initially, money from the fund will be split between the French Development Agency and KSrelief, according to official sources.




Saudi and French officials join a photo session in Beirut during the signing of an aid agreement for Lebanon. (SPA)

Since 2019, Lebanon has been in the throes of its worst-ever financial crisis, which has been further compounded by the economic strain of the pandemic and the nation’s political paralysis.

For many Lebanese, the final straw was the Beirut port blast of Aug. 2020, which killed 218, injured 7,000, caused $15 billion in property damage and left an estimated 300,000 people homeless.

Deteriorating socioeconomic conditions have sent thousands of young Lebanese, including many of the country’s top medical professionals and educators, abroad in search of security and opportunity.

Those Lebanese who have chosen to remain are forced to endure shortages of basic necessities, crumbling infrastructure, rolling blackouts and mass unemployment.

 


How Saudi Arabia’s OceanQuest is making waves in global marine conservation

Updated 14 June 2025
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How Saudi Arabia’s OceanQuest is making waves in global marine conservation

  • OceanQuest is a Saudi non-profit focused on deep-sea exploration and global marine science collaborations
  • On its Around Africa Expedition, the foundation emphasized human-centered approaches to conservation

RIYADH: As the curtains closed on this year’s UN Ocean Conference in the French city of Nice, the Saudi-led foundation OceanQuest emerged as one of the standout contributors to marine sustainability — not only in policy circles but also in the depths of the world’s oceans.

Fresh from its pioneering Around Africa Expedition, OceanQuest, in partnership with OceanX, brought remarkable scientific discoveries and a powerful message to UNOC — that true marine conservation must combine exploration, collaboration, and education.

“This expedition went around Africa and engaged on-ship around 16 African scientists and more than 200 port stops,” Martin Visbeck, CEO of OceanQuest, told Arab News.

From surveying megafauna by helicopter to exploring seamounts more than 1,000 meters beneath the surface aboard the OceanXplorer, the team used cutting-edge technology and human ingenuity to illuminate previously uncharted ecosystems.

OceanQuest is a Saudi non-profit incubated at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. It is rapidly becoming a key player in the global marine science arena, dedicated to deep-sea exploration, design innovation, and cross-border collaboration.

DID YOU KNOW?

• OceanQuest is a Saudi non-profit focused on deep-sea exploration and global collaborations in marine science.

• The foundation emphasizes human-centered approaches to conservation by training African scientists and educators.

• Discoveries on its Around Africa Expedition include new seamounts vital for biodiversity and sustainable fisheries.

One of its flagship missions — the Around Africa Expedition — offered not only new data but a model of inclusive, equitable marine science.

Using robotic vehicles, manned submersibles, and remote sensing tools, the team made multiple dives during the mission.

In total, they spent 53 hours underwater, collected nearly 90 samples, and mapped thousands of square kilometers of the seabed, including around the Nola Seamounts and Santo Antao Island. Flights over 922 nautical miles provided additional data on large marine animals.

Among the major outcomes was the identification of new underwater seamounts, crucial for fisheries and marine biodiversity.

“We will be the ones who go to seamount systems and explore what is there, look at the species, look at the functions and understanding, then share that with the community, to provide reasons why certain seamounts should be protected,” said Visbeck.

This insight is critical as countries consider the ratification and implementation of the High Seas Treaty — formally the Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction agreement — a major focus at UNOC.

OceanX and OceanQuest have successfully completed their ground-breaking ‘Around Africa Expedition,’ a collaborative journey that explored Africa’s vast and diverse marine environments. (Supplied)

“Biodiversity protection beyond national jurisdiction means the protected areas in the high seas, outside of a country’s own legal role,” said Visbeck.

OceanQuest’s approach is not just technical — it is human-centered.

Working alongside top African entities such as the National Research Foundation, the University of Cape Town, and the South African National Biodiversity Institute, the expedition helped build capacity for African marine science.

Twenty-four early-career professionals from across the continent were trained in seafloor mapping, environmental DNA analysis, and deep-sea sampling.

“This wasn’t just about what we discovered in the ocean. It was also about who we empowered on the ground,” said Visbeck. “By investing in people — students, young professionals and educators — we’re building a foundation for Africa’s long-term leadership in ocean science.”

He sees this collaborative model as a roadmap for future conservation.

“These collaborations are the future of ocean science in Africa,” he said. “We’ve seen what’s possible when scientists, governments and regional institutions align behind a common purpose, advancing knowledge, access and opportunity.”

This year’s UNOC provided the perfect platform for OceanQuest to share these achievements and ambitions.

“I decided that it would be amazing to celebrate and launch OceanQuest and share with the ocean world our arrival on the scene at UNOC,” said Visbeck.

Over 24 participants from several countries, like Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Africa, were able to have a first-hand experience through the Early Career Ocean Professionals program. (Supplied)

“We are using UNOC to celebrate with our partners, friends and ocean-policy people on the scene and share with them our mission and vision.”

In a time of mounting ocean crises — from plastic pollution to overfishing and climate change — Visbeck says awareness is a powerful tool.

“What we are trying to do is fight ignorance by providing data and information. Once the information is more clear, it can be a basis for regulatory agencies.”

From the Red Sea to the high seas, OceanQuest is helping reframe the future of ocean conservation — not just by mapping the seafloor, but by drawing a new map for global cooperation.
 

 


King Salman orders Saudi officials to aid stranded Iranian Hajj pilgrims

Updated 14 June 2025
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King Salman orders Saudi officials to aid stranded Iranian Hajj pilgrims

  • Directive issued after authorities in Tehran close their airspace following attack by Israel said to have targeted Iranian nuclear sites, nuclear scientists and military chiefs
  • Plan for the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to provide help to the stranded pilgrims presented to the king by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

RIYADH: King Salman on Friday ordered Saudi authorities to ensure that Iranian Hajj pilgrims stranded in the Kingdom receive all necessary support until it is safe for them to return home.

The directive came shortly after Israeli authorities launched early-morning airstrikes against Iran, which they said targeted nuclear sites, nuclear scientists and military chiefs. Tehran closed the country’s airspace in the aftermath.

The plan to provide help to stranded Iranian pilgrims was presented to the king by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has been tasked with ensuring they receive all necessary support.

The annual pilgrimage, a key pillar of Islam that all Muslims are required to complete at least once during their lives if physically and financially able, concluded on Monday. Tens of thousands of Iranians visit Saudi Arabia for Hajj each year. More than 1.6 million pilgrims from all over the world took part this year and authorities described it as a success.

Iran retaliated to the Israeli attack later on Friday by targeting Tel Aviv with missiles, raising fears of prolonged and more-dangerous exchanges of fire.


Saudi crown prince, President Trump discuss regional tensions in phone call

Updated 13 June 2025
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Saudi crown prince, President Trump discuss regional tensions in phone call

  • Two leaders stressed the importance of restraint and de-escalation, and underlined the need to resolve disputes through diplomatic means

RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held a phone call with US President Donald Trump to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, including the ongoing Israeli military operations against Iran, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

During the call on Friday, the two leaders stressed the importance of restraint and de-escalation, and underlined the need to resolve disputes through diplomatic means, SPA added.

They also affirmed the importance of continued joint efforts to promote security, peace, and stability across the region.


Makkah’s Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition unveils 1,400 years of sacred architecture

Updated 13 June 2025
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Makkah’s Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition unveils 1,400 years of sacred architecture

  • Immersive experience showcases history, transformation of Islam’s most sacred sites
  • Exhibition fuses traditional and contemporary Islamic design, with rare artifacts, architectural models on display

MAKKAH: Visitors to Makkah are being offered an unprecedented journey through Islamic architectural history, showcasing the remarkable evolution of the Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque across 14 centuries of development.

The Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition, housed in a renovated 1,200 sq. meter facility in the Um Al-Joud neighborhood, is presenting rare artifacts and architectural models that document the transformation of Islam’s most sacred sites.

The Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition, housed in a renovated 1,200-square-meter facility in the Um Al-Joud neighborhood, is presenting rare artifacts. (SPA)

The exhibition building itself exemplifies the fusion of traditional and contemporary Islamic design, with architectural elements deliberately echoing the Grand Mosque’s distinctive style.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, this design philosophy creates an immersive environment in which visitors experience visual and cultural connections to the sacred spaces.

FASTFACT

The exhibition building exemplifies the fusion of traditional and contemporary Islamic design, with architectural elements deliberately echoing the Grand Mosque’s distinctive style.

Following comprehensive upgrades, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque has launched the exhibition’s trial operations phase. The modernization included complete technical infrastructure overhauls, contemporary presentation methods for historical artifacts, and sophisticated lighting systems that illuminate intricate details while enhancing the visitor experience.

The Two Holy Mosques Architecture Exhibition, housed in a renovated 1,200-square-meter facility in the Um Al-Joud neighborhood, is presenting rare artifacts. (SPA)

The exhibition’s renewed mission extends beyond simple display, aiming to transmit the Two Holy Mosques’ heritage to both Islamic communities and global audiences, the SPA said.

Through interactive experiences and educational programming, the facility seeks to broaden understanding of Islamic architectural principles, while connecting contemporary visitors with their civilizational roots.

Those interested in visiting can schedule appointments through the official booking portal at https://visits.alharamain.gov.sa/

 


Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques launches Umrah season programs

Muslims pray around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque complex in Makkah early on June 6, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 13 June 2025
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Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques launches Umrah season programs

  • The presidency will enhance the devotional atmosphere via religious and scholarly initiatives and programs throughout the season

MAKKAH: The Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques is preparing to enhance its program for the upcoming Umrah season through an initiative aimed at welcoming pilgrims, worshippers and visitors, and raising awareness about rituals.

The presidency explained that the centers for responding to religious inquiries have been enhanced through both on-site locations and telephone services. These are distributed across 10 sites inside and outside the Grand Mosque in Makkah, in addition to four dedicated offices for phone-based inquiries.

A total of 62 participating scholars, including judges and university faculty members, are available around the clock to respond to inquiries.

The presidency will enhance the devotional atmosphere via religious and scholarly initiatives and programs throughout the season. The plan also seeks to recruit volunteers to serve in the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.