Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor at the Royal Court and Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabai has implemented 76 relief and humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, worth more than $258 million, including 41 projects implemented through KSrelief, valued at $29 million, and five development loans provided through the Saudi Fund for Development (SDF) to contribute to financing four projects in the education and road sectors, at an amount of $220 million. He added that the Kingdom, through SDF, provided two grants; $25million and $30 million to finance reconstructions efforts and finance some of the appropriate and proposed components of the voluntary return program for Afghan refugees. Al Rabeeah's remarks came during his participation today within his capacity as head of the Kingdom's delegation to the donors' conference dedicated to Afghanistan for the year 2022, which was organized virtually by the United Nations in cooperation with Qatar, Germany, and the UK. Dr. Al Rabeeah expressed Saudi Arabia's appreciation to Qatar, the UK, Germany, and the UN for their keenness to organize this virtual conference in light of the exceptional circumstances the world has been going through, which have exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, especially the most vulnerable groups. He said, "We meet today, and we all agree that providing relief and humanitarian support to the Afghan people is a matter that requires supporting them, through the donor groups, but at the international level as well to avoid any serious humanitarian disasters that the Afghan people or countries hosting Afghan refugees might face," noting that over the past decades, the Kingdom has supported a large number of humanitarian and relief projects in Afghanistan and has been keen, with partners, to support all efforts aimed at alleviating human suffering and prevents the occurrence of new waves of migration or displacement. "Emanating from the Kingdom's humanitarian responsibility towards the Afghan people, the Kingdom recently, under the generous directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, dispatched air and a land bridge to Afghanistan carrying urgent relief, humanitarian and food aid, and the Kingdom also within its capacity as the head of the Islamic Summit last December, for an extraordinary meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and contribute to providing an appropriate humanitarian response. The meeting resulted in the establishment of the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan under the umbrella of the Islamic Development Bank." At the conclusion of his speech, Dr. Al Rabeeah said KSA will continue to pursue its efforts toward the Afghan people and provide relief and humanitarian programs to alleviate human suffering through KSrelief and SFD, in addition to the Humanitarian Trust Fund for Afghanistan under the umbrella of the Islamic Development Bank.
