RIYADH: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, stated that the Kingdom has implemented 76 relief and humanitarian projects to support Afghanistan at a total cost of more than $258 million.
Forty-one of these projects, amounting to more than $29 million, were carried out through KSrelief, while five developmental loans, amounting to $220 million, were handed out through the Saudi Fund for Development to help finance four projects in the fields of education and infrastructure.
In addition, the Kingdom has allocated, through the SFD, one $25 million grant for reconstruction and another $30 million grant to finance some of the elements that were suggested as part of the program for the voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees.
Al-Rabeeah’s words came as he participated in the 2022 International Donor Conference for Afghanistan, which was held virtually and organized by the UN in cooperation with Qatar, Germany and the UK.
Al-Rabeeah said: “We all meet today and agree that providing the Afghan people with aid and humanitarian assistance requires that we stand with them. This is not the responsibility of the donors alone, but rather the responsibility of the international community as a whole.
“This would help prevent any dangerous humanitarian disasters the Afghan people or the countries hosting Afghan refugees might face.”
He noted that “the Kingdom, over the past decades, has supported a large number of humanitarian and aid projects in Afghanistan. It was, with its partners, keen to support everything that alleviates the humanitarian suffering of the needy and prevents new waves of migration and displacement from occurring.”
Al-Rabeeah added that Saudi Arabia recently established an air and land bridge carrying emergency aid and food supplies.
He went on to explain how the Kingdom, as president of the Islamic Summit, called in December for an extraordinary meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in order to respond to the situation in Afghanistan.
“This meeting resulted in the establishment of the humanitarian trust fund for Afghanistan under the umbrella of the Islamic Development Bank,” he said.
He stressed that “the Kingdom will continue to implement aid and humanitarian projects” to help the Afghan people.
