At a recent seminar held at the Second Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Festival in Abu Dhabi, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) highlighted its international aid to other countries between 1996 and 2018. Attendees learned that Saudi Arabia has provided more than USD 86 billion to 81 countries during those two decades.  

KSrelief's Spokesperson Dr. Samer Al Jutaily, and the Director of WFP’s Office in the UAE and Representative of WFP to GCC countries, Mr. Abdul Majid Yahya, both attended the seminar. The theme of this year’s OIC Festival was "One Nation Unified by Benevolent Cooperation, Justice and Tolerance”, and was held from 24 – 27 April 2019 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC). 

Dr. Al Jutaily stated that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, established the KSrelief in May of 2015 to implement and monitor the Kingdom’s international humanitarian aid and relief projects in accordance with international standards for delivering assistance to those in need. 

The audience also learned that since it opened, KSrelief has implemented 996 projects in 44 countries at a total cost of USD 3,254,261,000. 255 projects focusing on women were provided for USD 389,682,000, and 234 projects focused on children for USD 529,463,000.  

In Yemen, KSrelief implemented 330 projects for USD 1,997,000,000 with the cooperation of 80 UN, and international and local NGO partners. These projects were in the fields of food security, health, early recovery, humanitarian and emergency relief coordination, WASH, shelter, non-food items, protection, education, logistics, nutrition, emergency telecommunications and others.

Dr. Al Jutaily also reviewed the center's efforts to support Syrian and Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, and to help both groups inside their own borders. KSrelief has also provided ongoing assistance to flood victims in Somalia and Pakistan, distributing food baskets and implementing projects to provide safe drinking water, sanitation and medical services.

Dr. Al Jutaily also highlighted some of the important projects implemented by KSrelief in Yemen, including the MASAM project for demining, and the Child Soldiers Rehabilitation Program to help children recruited by Houthi militias and others who have suffered greatly from the conflict to reintegrate into their families and communities and to return to school. The eventual goal of this program is to provide services for at least 2,000 Yemeni children.

KSrelief’s Spokesperson also commented upon the many violations Houthi militias have committed against humanitarian workers in Yemen, seizing aid ships and land convoys, looting aid, and launching anti-aircraft weapons against civilian targets. The Houthis have also attacked the Kingdom with ballistic missiles, mortars, artillery and Katyusha rockets, killing 112 civilians and injuring 954. These attacks have also damaged 41 schools, 6 hospitals and 20 mosques, and have the displacement of more than 20,000 Saudi citizens. 

He also spoke about cooperation between KSrelief and WFP to implement food security projects to help Rohingya refugees living in camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The two organizations also partner in Yemen to fight famine, and to provide food assistance in several other countries. 

Mr. Abdul Majid Yahya also spoke about joint efforts in the food sector. He expressed his pride in this partnership, particularly in Yemen, where WFP and KSrelief work together to provide assistance throughout the country. He stressed that the financial support provided by KSrelief enables WFP to continue to provide humanitarian and relief assistance to the Yemeni people, and that the center’s extensive field presence has been witnessed by all international humanitarian organizations working in the country. He concluded his remarks by saying that the WFP – KSrelief partnership in Yemen has only one goal, which is to provide impartial assistance to alleviate the suffering of all Yemenis. ​