Vital work of Saudi aid agency highlighted at UN gathering

  • 5/3/2019
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GENEVA: Saudi Arabia’s vital multi-billion-dollar relief work was highlighted at a top-level meeting of a UN aid organization’s financial backers.A delegation from the Kingdom on Wednesday attended the regular meeting of donors supporting the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), held in Geneva.The group representing Saudi Arabia was headed by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center’s (KSRelief) assistant general supervisor for planning and development, Dr. Aqeel bin Jumban Al-Ghamdi.During the meeting, chaired by the Republic of Ireland, Al-Ghamdi highlighted the humanitarian support provided by Saudi Arabia and the UAE to Sudan.This, he told delegates, amounted to a package of aid totaling $3 billion, including $500 million provided by the two countries as a deposit in the Central Bank of Sudan, to strengthen its financial status, reduce pressures on the Sudanese pound and achieve greater stability of the exchange rate.He stressed that the remaining balance would be spent on meeting the urgent food, medicine and fuel-derivative needs of the Sudanese people.Al-Ghamdi praised the Kingdom’s leading and pioneering role in humanitarian work and pointed to the efforts of the OCHA in helping to alleviate the suffering of those in need and the speed of its response to international humanitarian crises.The meeting also discussed the governance of the OCHA, the new structure of the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee, and the outcome of a visit to Sudan by the donor group.

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