BRUSSELS: General Supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center Abdullah Al-Rabeeah recently headed a Saudi delegation participating in the European Humanitarian Forum.

The gathering, held in the Belgian capital Brussels, was also attended by leading representatives of donor countries and UN agencies.

On the sidelines of the forum, Al-Rabeeah took part in a ministerial meeting for the biggest 10 donors, during which delegates discussed international challenges related to gaps between available financial resources and humanitarian needs, increased grain prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and global economic issues linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

The center’s chief also held meetings with Michael Kohler, the European Commission’s deputy director general for European civil protection and humanitarian aid operations, Hannah Neumann, the European Parliament’s chair of the delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula, Nick Dyer, special envoy for famine prevention and humanitarian affairs at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, Carl Skau, head of the department for UN policy, conflict, and humanitarian affairs at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and Isobel Coleman, the US Agency for International Development’s deputy administrator for policy and programming.

During discussions, Al-Rabeeah reviewed Saudi Arabia’s leading role, through KSrelief, in supporting humanitarian causes via projects in 79 countries around the world and noted the Kingdom’s desire to work with other nations in supporting those nations worst-hit by rises in food costs.

In addition, the forum discussed Saudi Arabia’s presidency from the middle of this year of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Since its inception in May 2015, KSrelief has implemented 1,919 projects worth nearly $6 billion. The countries and territories that have benefited the most are Yemen ($4 billion), Palestine ($368 million), Syria ($325 million), and Somalia ($210 million).