Kingdom provides humanitarian aid without discrimination: KSRelief chief
WASHINGTON: Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, adviser at the royal court and general supervisor of the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid (KSRelief) recently highlighted the humanitarian efforts and work by the Kingdom represented by the center to help those in need all over the world.
Al-Rabeeah met with representatives of the international and American media at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington and stressed that the Kingdom provides humanitarian aid without discrimination.
He noted that the Kingdom has helped people in need in 38 different countries on four continents.
The KSRelief chief explained the special role of the Kingdom, represented by the center, in the humanitarian field, its impartial actions and abidance by international humanitarian law that conforms to Islamic Sharia, in seeking to preserve dignity and integrity of those in need and ease their pain.
He said that the country that has benefitted most from the Kingdom’s humanitarian aid is Yemen. Houthi militias have besieged cities and blocked medical and relief items. However, that has not thwarted the center’s pursuit to assist all Yemenis.
Al-Rabeeah talked about the challenges faced by KSRelief operations in Yemen, especially the blockade enforced by armed Houthi militias in many areas, preventing aid from reaching its destination. These militias, he stressed, looted large amounts of aid destined for the Yemeni people between 2015 and 2017, including 65 shiploads of aid and 124 relief convoys.
The Kingdom granted more than $76 million to the Yemeni Ministry of Health, the Yemeni people, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, as well as 550 tons of medications distributed through all Yemen’s regions.
Al-Rabeeah noted that the center targeted women and children in Yemen by implementing many projects in the field of education, security, and food and water supplies.
The rate of the spread of cholera in Yemen decreased over time thanks to the center’s efforts, he said.
He also said that the Kingdom has received and assisted Syrian refugees as its guests and supported millions of other refugees in nearby countries, stressing the Kingdom’s concern about the humanitarian situation in Iraq, Somalia and Myanmar.
The head of KSRelief noted that aid provided by the Kingdom in 2014 reached 1.9 percent of the country’s GDP, which exceeded the rate of 0.07 percent decided by the UN. The Kingdom also received refugees from Yemen and Syria and treated them as guests.