The Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND) announced funding to support UNICEF's response to the cholera outbreak in Lebanon and to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases again. The agreement was signed in Riyadh on Monday by Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal bin Abdulaziz, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGFUND, and UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Adele Khodr on the sidelines of the Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum. UNICEF and AGFUND stressed the importance of expanding the scope of partnership to new areas, and this comes after four decades of joint work, the latest of which are programs that have benefited children and families in Yemen, Sudan, Palestine and Jordan. UNICEF and AGFUND identified the field of early childhood development, which is one of the focus areas of UNICEF programs in the Gulf, as a major priority for the partnership. The new cooperation includes the establishment of the Center of Excellence for Early Childhood Development, based in Riyadh. The cooperation between UNICEF and AGFUND will also include steps aimed at addressing the climate crisis, as AGFUND, as a member of the Arab Coordination Group, has an important role in regional programming on climate change.