Saudi aid chief joins high-level session on bridging humanitarian funding gap at UNGA sidelines

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, advisor to the Saudi Royal Court and supervisor-general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, participated in a high-level meeting on bridging the humanitarian funding gap.

Al-Rabeeah attended the meeting with Martin Griffiths, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.

The session was organized by Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the EU, in the presence of a number of countries and representatives of humanitarian organizations on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City.

It was also attended by Swedish Minister for International Cooperation, Development and Foreign Trade Johan Vore Sell, and Janez Lennar Schich, EU commissioner for crisis management, in a session moderated by Lisa Doten from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Al-Rabeeah said that humanitarian efforts must be combined in order to expand the scope of donor countries, bodies and individuals, and raise the level of coordination and impact of humanitarian aid, so that the work is more effective.

He noted that Saudi Arabia annually launches the annual Kingdom’s “Gift of Dates” campaign in partnership with the World Food Programme for an amount exceeding $136 million, which benefits 72 countries around the world.

Al-Rabeeah said KSrelief has supported the global response to COVID-19 crisis by providing vaccines, medical devices, medicines and care units.

He also focused on providing financial support, encouraging the provision of motivating countries and donors to provide whatever in-kind and financial resources they can.