RIYADH —The Board of Directors of the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) held its periodic meeting Tuesday, which was headed by Prince Abdulaziz Bin Talal, president of AGFUND, to discuss several topics and approve financing a number of projects listed on the meeting agenda. At the outset of the meeting, the Board welcomed representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Al-Rasheed and representative of the state of Qatar Muhsin Al-Bahli, while expressing its thanks and gratitude to former representative of Saudi Arabia Eng. Yusuf Al-Bassam and former representative of the state of Qatar Ahmed Bokhshaishah for the devoted efforts during their period in AGFUND. The board reviewed AGFUND’s achievements for the first half of 2021 and discussed the proposals submitted by UN, International, and non-governmental organizations, such as the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the United Nations Children"s Fund (UNICEF), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Helen Keller International. It also approved a number of these projects in the light of the presented studies and analyzes that are consistent with AGFUND"s funding conditions and criteria, most contribute to achieving sustainable development goals and meet the needs of the target groups. The projects approved by the board include "Empowering Women in Vulnerable Communities to address Poverty and Inequalities through Flexible, Affordable and Accredited Education", "Training and Rehabilitation of Health Personnel on Combating the COVID-19", "The Charities Economic Empowerment and Capacity Building initiative", "Empowering Women working in Sweet Potato Cultivation and Fishing Entrepreneurs", "Engaging Technology to Fight Violence Against Women" and "Mitigating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on AGFUND’s Banks". — SPA