Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — An all-encompassing umbrella that provides solace to the world through its humanitarian, developmental and charity works just reaffirms the fact that Saudi Arabia lives up to its name of being a humanitarian Kingdom, or Kingdom of humanity. Since its inception, the Kingdom has been an ardent giver. It has always been a beacon of generosity and humanitarian aid, and a strong supporter of countries in times of difficulties. The Kingdom's assistance, both in form of material and personnel, has made it one of the leading nations in providing humanitarian aid. Today the Saudi Aid Platform, housing a number of entities that provide relief in various forms, is in the forefront for this exceptional work both at home and abroad with topnotch service standards and prompt relief. And the figures, over the years, embellish these facts. Since 1975, Saudi Arabia has provided a total of SR175.6 billion ($46.83 billion) in financial assistance to many countries and international organizations. According to the figures registered at the Saudi Aid Platform, the beneficiaries included as many as 156 countries around the world with implementing 3,701 humanitarian, developmental and charity projects at a total of SR116.06 billion ($30.94 billion), in these countries. The Kingdom has also extended 524 financial contributions, amounting to a total of SR8.10 billion ($2.16 billion) during the current period and the beneficiaries included international organizations and agencies as well as regional developmental, humanitarian and charity funds. The contributions were disbursed among several sectors, such as budget and general programs of the funds, development organizations and bodies, humanitarian and emergency relief assistance to organizations and international bodies under the United Nations, and the charity and social works of international and regional bodies. Saudi Arabia has always been one of the top ten countries in the world in providing aid. It has saved millions of people from conflicts and crises regardless of their religion or ethnicity through contributions to international humanitarian initiatives and relief work. The Kingdom's foreign aid is provided in the form of cash, in-kind grants and concessional loans to promote sustainable development. It also includes commitments and disbursements. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman launched the Saudi Aid Platform on Feb. 26, 2018 during the first Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum in order to facilitate Saudi donors to register what they provided electronically through the platform and that was in view of the multiplicity of Saudi donors. To highlight the Kingdom's efforts internationally and to preserve its rights to philanthropy like any other major donor country, the King directed KSRelief to establish a database platform to reflect all of the Kingdom's foreign aid efforts in coordination with the relevant Saudi entities. The Saudi entities were trained to classify and input foreign aid into the platform since the establishment of the Kingdom up to now. It has become necessary to have an effective mechanism that collects, coordinates and documents its statistics, highlighting the size and type of assistance provided by the Kingdom to the needy countries and peoples of the world. King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) designed the platform. It has prepared models for registration of humanitarian, developmental and charity projects and contributions based on international standards in registration and documentation approved by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Financial Tracking Service (FTS) platform, and the principles of the International Aid Transparency Initiative. KSRelief was also instrumental in coordinating with the donors and training them on creating inventory of aid and classify it so as to enter it on the platform. The platform provides each donor with an electronic account to register the aid and also allow those wishing to benefit and view all the Saudi aid data transparently. After the donors record their aid, KSRelief documents this aid internationally in relevant organizations periodically on behalf of the Kingdom. The platform is divided into three categories: humanitarian, developmental and charity projects; contributions to international organizations and bodies; and services for refugee within the Kingdom. The services provided to refugees within the Kingdom include health and educational services and exemptions from iqama (residency permit) fees, and these amounted to SR54.5 billion ($13.73 billion) distributed among the Yemeni, Syrian and Burmese nationals. Moreover, the KSRelief has established a platform for refugees, displaced persons and visitors in order to highlight the type and size of the Kingdom's assistance to them within the Kingdom and outside, as the assistance provided to them amounted to SR51.5 billion ($13.73 billion). KSrelief lives up to its motto "towards an unrestricted humanity" in their interactions with all people wherever they may be by performing tasks with integrity, impartiality and honesty. The Saudi Aid Platform with such core beliefs in all its entities acts on the principles of professional practices to serve the needy humanely.
