HESINKI: The general supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief), Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah met Jouni Hemberg, the executive director of Finn Church Aid (FCA), on Thursday in the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
Al-Rabeeah presented the Kingdom’s relief and humanitarian efforts through KSRelief, which has implemented 1,062 projects amounting to almost SR14 billion ($3.7 billion) in 45 countries.
He highlighted the efforts to support the brotherly Yemeni people through many projects such as the “Masam” mine clearance project, prosthetic centers, the rehabilitation of Yemeni child soldiers and the assistance provided to Yemeni refugees in Somalia, Djibouti and inside the Kingdom. He also pointed to efforts to help the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and Malaysia.
Al-Rabeeah also spoke of the challenges impeding the center’s efforts in Yemen due to the Houthi violations, noting that “they were not able to keep the center from fulfilling its noble humanitarian message and delivering aid to the beneficiaries.” KSRelief is operating with all transparency and is even assisting hospitals controlled by the Houthis.
During the meeting, they discussed the possibility of strengthening bilateral cooperation and exchanging experiences in the humanitarian field. Al-Rabeeah invited FCA to attend the second Riyadh International Humanitarian Forum in February.
Jouni Hemberg praised KSRelief’s charity work around the world.
Meanwhile, KSRelief signed two executive programs to treat the Yemenis injured in Aden in partnership with a number of private sector hospitals in Aden governorate.
The contracts were signed by Ahmed bin Ali Al-Beiz, assistant general supervisor of the center for operations and programs, under which health and medical care will be provided to the targeted persons.
The director of the department of medical and environmental aid, Dr. Abdullah bin Saleh Al-Moallem, said that in cooperation with the Yemeni Ministry of Health and Population the center signed two executive programs for the treatment of injured Yemenis worth $320,000, benefitting more than 100 injured people. This was part of the initiative launched by the center in accordance with the directives of King Salman to treat those wounded in Aden and Abyan in August.
Earlier, Al-Rabeeah, met with the Finnish minister of state for family affairs and social services, Ella Makeba, as part of his official visit to Finland.
During the meeting, held in the Finnish capital Helsinki, Al-Rabeeah briefed Makeba on Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian work around the world.
He highlighted KSRelief’s support for the health sector in needy countries and its global volunteer programs and campaigns being carried out in line with the Saudi Vision 2030 reform plan.
Makeba lauded KSRelief’s “great” humanitarian efforts on behalf of the Kingdom which, over two decades, has delivered $87 billion (SR326 billion) in aid to 81 countries.
Since 2014 more than 1,011 humanitarian aid programs worth $3.5 billion have benefitted 44 countries, primarily Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Iraq.
