RIYADH: New Zealand Ambassador James Monroe recently visited the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, known as Etidal.
Praising the work of the center, the envoy said Etidal’s efforts are advanced and critical in its line of work.
Monroe has completed his term as the ambassador to the Kingdom.
“Your work is vitally and globally important. It has been a pleasure to see the progress you have achieved while maintaining your exacting standards and dedication to your methodology. I wish the center and all your staff the very best,” he said.
The secretary-general of the center, Dr. Mansour Al-Shammari, praised the role of New Zealand in promoting values of coexistence and combating hate speech.
The center was established on three basic pillars: Confronting extremism by the latest intellectual, media, and numerical methods and means.
The center uses different methods to counter extremist ideology such as software capable of monitoring, classifying, and analyzing any extremist content within just 6 seconds of its online broadcast and with more than 80 percent accuracy. It has a team of multidisciplinary researchers competent in using data analytical tools.
It operates in the extremists’ most widely used languages and dialects. Advanced analytical models are being developed to locate digital media platforms, highlight the extremist focal point, and secret sources of polarization and acquiring activities.
The center works to refute hate and extremist speech and promote concepts of moderation through the production of media content that confronts radical thoughts.
DiplomaticQuarter: New Zealand envoy lauds efforts of Etidal against extremism
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DiplomaticQuarter: New Zealand envoy lauds efforts of Etidal against extremism
Saudi aid agency expands humanitarian assistance across conflict-hit regions
- Efforts aim to ease suffering caused by harsh living conditions
RIYADH: The Saudi aid agency KSrelief continues to make an impact by delivering critical assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.
A KSrelief humanitarian convoy has crossed the Rafah border and moved toward the Kerem Abu Salem crossing in southeastern Gaza, carrying essential food baskets for Palestinians.
The Saudi Center for Culture and Heritage, KSrelief’s implementing partner in Gaza, has established new camps in the Al-Qarara area of southern Gaza and the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
These efforts aim to ease suffering by ensuring that food and means of shelter reach the most vulnerable, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile, KSrelief has signed an executive program with a civil society organization to help restore the Al-Manara Water Treatment Plant and supply electricity to the Saudi Maternity and Children’s Hospital, and Al-Buluk Children’s Hospital in Omdurman, Sudan.
The program will provide safe drinking water, helping reduce waterborne diseases, and ensure a reliable power supply for the two hospitals, the SPA added.
KSrelief has also distributed 900 food baskets to displaced families and returnees in Sudan’s Sennar State, benefiting 5,538 people, and 1,400 food baskets in River Nile State, helping 11,700 beneficiaries.
Saudi Arabia, through KSrelief, has provided aid to support crisis-hit Sudan via 13 aircraft and 60 ships, the SPA reported.
KSrelief has also signed a cooperation agreement with the International Association for the Care of Victims of War and Disasters to implement the eighth phase of operations at the Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Center in Yemen’s Taiz governorate.
The project will benefit 8,050 people by helping with physical rehabilitation, monitoring patients’ progress, and supporting the integration of people with disabilities into society.
It includes individual treatment plans, prosthetic fittings, functional rehabilitation, and specialized training to strengthen the capabilities of medical staff, the SPA added.
In addition, KSrelief has distributed food baskets to 810 vulnerable families in Chad. In Afghanistan, the agency has provided food assistance to 510 families in Badakhshan Province, benefiting 3,060 individuals, including returnees, orphans, and others in need.
KSrelief has implemented 4,006 projects in 109 countries since 2015, spending over $8.27 billion on food security, health, education, water and sanitation, shelter, and early recovery.
