AMMAN, JORDAN: Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), signed two joint agreements yesterday to provide food security and housing support for Syrian and Palestinian refugees and host community members in need in Jordan. The signing ceremony was attended by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Jordan, Nayef Al Sudairi, along with a number of other officials, at Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Amman.

Dr. Al Rabeeah signed the first agreement with the National Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition (Najmah), providing USD two million for a project to improve food security for needy families. Under the agreement, KSrelief will provide a grant to the National Alliance (Najmah) to meet the food needs of Syrian and Palestinian refugees not living in refugee camps, as well as that of some needy Jordanians, across all governorates for a period of six months.  Through a contract with Jordan’s Military Consumer Corporation (MCC), magnetic payment cards will be distributed every two months to beneficiaries, and can be used to purchase food items at designated retail locations belonging to the MCC. The project will support 28,865 beneficiaries (5,773 families).

Dr. Al Rabeeah signed the second agreement with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) to provide housing support, pay beneficiaries’ water and electricity bills, and cover the cost of rent for targeted Syrian families in the Irbid governorate. The project duration will be 3 years, and will benefit 22 Syrian refugee families (109 people) who have family members with special needs.

After the signing, Dr. Al Rabeeah stated that KSrelief, which acts as the humanitarian representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, provides impartial aid to people in need globally. He further explained that since the center was established in 2015 under a royal decree from the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, KSrelief has strived to become a leading international center for humanitarian work. 

Dr. Al Rabeeah added that KSrelief has implemented, along with its 144 humanitarian aid partners, 1,919 projects in 79 countries for more than USD 5.5 billion. KSrelief, he said, carries out its work with neutrality, transparency and impartiality and without discrimination, purely based on the needs of its beneficiaries. KSrelief’s assistance includes all humanitarian sectors, including food, shelter, early recovery, protection, education, WASH, nutrition, health, and others.

Yemen, Dr. Al Rabeeah stated, has received the highest percentage of KSrelief’s assistance, some 684 projects valued at more than USD 4 billion. KSrelief focuses on programs to support and protect women and children, helping them to overcome their many obstacles and provide them with better lives. 

He also outlined some of KSrelief’s qualitative projects in Yemen, including its Child Soldiers Rehabilitation Program, which has helped more than 500 children recover from the trauma of living amidst ongoing armed conflict. The MASAM Project for Clearing Landmines in Yemen has thus far removed 323,875 Houthi-militia-planted explosive devices from the country. The Artificial Limbs Program provides prosthetic limbs to land mine victims and care for other patients requiring prosthetics and physical rehabilitative care. 

Dr. Al Rabeeah also mentioned the Saudi National Conjoined Twins Programme, of which he is the Head. Since 1990, he explained, 50 pairs of twins from 23 countries have been successfully separated, thanks to the generous patronage of the Kingdom’s leadership. Dr. Al Rabeeah added that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a leader in the field of conjoined twin separations, reflecting the advancements which have been achieved in the Kingdom’s health sector.