by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh : The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) has launched the Saudi Humanitarian and Biological Demining Project (MASAM) to remove mines in Yemen, in the presence of a number of officials, members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of international humanitarian organizations.
Advisor at the Royal Court and KSRelief Director General Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabeeah disclosed that MASAM, which is being implemented by Saudi cadres and international expertise, aims to remove all types of mines planted by militias in random ways within the Yemeni territory.
He said the project also meant to help the people of Yemen to overcome the humanitarian tragedies caused by the spread of mines and to enable them to take responsibility in the long term.
“It is not disputed by any gentleman that Saudi Arabia has always, throughout its vast history, extended the bridges of good, support and noble humanitarian work to its neighbor countries as well as to friendly countries. In this way, it is achieving what the teachings of our Islamic religion call for,” Al-Rabeeah said during the inauguration ceremony of the project in Riyadh on Monday.
“The support of our brothers in Yemen has been at the top of the Kingdom’s priorities for decades,” he said while emphasizing the ties of neighborliness, religion, language as well as the social and family relations between the Saudi and Yemeni people.
He explained that KSRelief has played a major role in assisting the Yemeni people through the provision of 262 humanitarian relief projects, with a total cost of more than $1.6 billion, in terms of food, health, shelter, security, community support, education and other important relief programs.
Regarding the Saudi project for demining, Al-Rabeeah said: “The Saudi cadres and international expertise are working to remove all types of mines planted by the militias in random ways in the Yemeni territories, especially in the governorates of Marib, Aden, Sana’a and Taiz.”
He pointed out that, to date, more than 600,000 mines have been counted in the areas liberated from the putschist militias, and 130,000 internationally banned anti-ship and anti-boat mines, in addition to 40,000 mines in Marib Governorate and 16,000 in Mayyun Island.
Al-Rabeeah explained that, according to reports released by the Yemeni government from December 2014 to December 2016, a total of 1,539 people were either killed or injured among a total of more than 3,000 people hit by mines. These include 615 death cases, including 101 children and 26 women, and 924 injuries, including 10 children and 36 women. Another 900 suffered total and permanent disabilities. In Taiz alone, there were 274 cases of amputations and permanent disabilities, including 18 cases of blindness.
The KSRelief chief noted that in just one year, the National Demining Program recorded a large number of mine casualties. He stated that the number of mine victims in the governorates of Aden, Lahj, Abyan and Taiz reached 418, while 1,775 other injuries were recorded in the same period. A total of 380 casualties and 512 injuries were recorded in both the governorates of Al-Jawf and Marib governorates.
Al-Rabeeah explained that 195 people, mostly children and women who had lost limbs to mines, were fitted with 305 prostheses at KSRielf Artificial Limbs Center in Marib Governorate. The Center provided the necessary treatment and rehabilitation for a large number of the wounded, whose ages ranged between 12 and 72 years.
In the past three years, he said, Saudi Arabia has offered more than $11 billion in aid to Yemen, including humanitarian assistance, refugee support services, development assistance to support Yemen’s economy and Central Bank, among others.
For his part, Yemen’s Foreign Minister Khalid Hussein al-Yamani, on behalf of the government and people of Yemen, thanked the Saudi government, saying: “Through the war they waged and as a result of their looting of state resources in the areas under their control, the Houthi putschists have caused a humanitarian catastrophe.”
“They seek, through the deterioration of humanitarian situation to achieve political goals and mobilize world opinion against the Arab coalition and the legitimate government in order to install the coup and impose the fait accompli,” he added.
Al-Yamani underscored that mine planting is one of the means used by the Houthi militias to punish the Yemeni people and increase the suffering. He said that mine planting is in violation of the international humanitarian law and related conventions, including the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines.
The foreign minister added that the Houthi militias had invented new ways to use anti-vehicle mines and to divert their use against individuals in order to inflict maximum casualties among civilians, especially women and children, and even animals. He noted that the putschists created individual explosive, camouflaged and improvised mines with a variety of purposes and objectives, including Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RCIED), some of which come directly from Iran, as mentioned in the report of the Security Council Panel of Experts for 2017, while others were developed in Yemen by Iranian experts.
Al-Yamani pointed out that the preliminary statistics showed that the Houthi militias planted about one million mines in different parts of Yemen. He pointed out that marine mines may pose a major threat to international navigation in the Red Sea in the future, a matter which urgently requires huge international humanitarian efforts to remove these mines, clear Yemen’s land and shores as well as neutralizing the danger and restoring the spirit of life to the Yemeni territory liberated from the grip of the Houthi militias.
In turn, Secretary General of the International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO) Dr. Vladimir Kuvshinov said: “The institutions in charge of providing assistance and protection to civilians must meet the expectations of the world and produce tangible results and conclusions on how to fight mines in Yemen and other countries.”
He pointed out that it is no coincidence that Saudi Arabia, and through KSRelief, has contributed significantly to efforts focused on the protection of civilians and the alleviation of the physical and psychological suffering caused by mines.
“We in the International Civil Defense Organization – and in line with our mandate to work to protect communities from natural and man-made disasters – are ready to join efforts to improve the protection of civilians in Yemen from mine destruction,” said Kuvshinov.
The event included the launch of an exhibition in which the ICDO chief presented for the first time a live mine clearance. The exhibition reviewed the most important achievements of demining and the installation of prostheses for victims.
The exhibition highlighted the efforts exerted by the KSRelief Artificial Limbs Center around the world. It also featured 50 live pictures of the staff, as well as documentary films on human suffering caused by mines.
—AB/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jeddah : Since the foundation of Saudi Arabia, its wealth has not been limited to its citizens but has been spread throughout most of the world.
It has provided humanitarian aid, charitable grants and soft loans to countries regardless of color or race. The Kingdom has always been one of the world’s top providers for assistance.
To highlight the Kingdom’s effort internationally and to preserve its right to give in the same way as the major donor countries, King Salman issued a royal decree, under the guidance of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief), to establish a database of Saudi aid, including the Kingdom’s humanitarian assistance in coordination with the relevant authorities.
The center worked on the design and prepared the platform for the registration of humanitarian, development and philanthropic projects and contributions based on international standards in the record and documentation of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (DAC-OECD), and the UN’s Financial Tracking Service (UNFTS) and the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI).
Saudi aid is in cash and in-kind assistance, provided in humanitarian and charitable grants and soft loans to promote development. The aid data also includes payments and subsequent financial commitments. Saudi donors have been trained to provide and classify the aid in three phases: The first ten years (2007-2017) — the current period — the second phase (1996-2006) and the third phase, which includes the rest of the assistance provided since the establishment of the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has a long history in a variety of sectors and fields, where it is called the Kingdom of Humanity, and its name is associated with issues that call for peace and giving.
The Kingdom’s humanitarian tenders in accordance with the official Saudi Aid Platform in its current phase (2007-2017) has reached a total of $32.83 billion.
The number of the Kingdom’s humanitarian, development and philanthropic projects reached 1,084, with a total of $31.90 billion for 78 benefiting countries.
The financial contributions to international organizations and entities included (489) grants totaling $929,711,258 to 37 beneficiaries. Development aid amounted to $493.88 billion and humanitarian assistance to $353.440 billion, while philanthropic support reached $82.381 billion.
The top five recipient countries of aid from Saudi Arabia are: Yemen, with a total of $14 billion for 290 projects, followed by Syria with a total of $3 billion/153 projects, Egypt was ranked third with a total of $2 billion/20 projects, while Niger was ranked fourth with a total of $1.230 billion/7 projects and Mauritania was ranked fifth with 14 projects and a total of $1.219 million.
The top five beneficiaries of the Kingdom were the UN with 45 contributions totaling $303.37 million, the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf with 23 grants totaling $225.849 million, the League of Arab States with 28 contributions totaling $140.810 million, the UN Development Program with 24 contributions totaling $80.200 million and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation with 21 grants totaling $48.395 million.
The official public statistics of Saudi humanitarian, development and philanthropic projects to serve the continents and regions worldwide have reached more than $21.165 billion in Asia, $9.810 billion in Africa, $379 million in Europe, $376 million in North America and $170 million in Europe and Central Asia.
The number of partners was 192, the number of sectors was 20, and Saudi donors amounted to 10 entities, where the value of development aid amounted to $21 billion, humanitarian support was $21 billion, while philanthropic donations amounted to $39 billion.
The top 10 projects have reached the highest level by sector, including humanitarian aid relief aid in emergency cases by 69 percent for 716 projects, transportation with 73 programs, religious and social philanthropic activities with 62 projects, education with 60 projects, health with 42 projects, water and public health with 29 projects, power generation and supply with 20 projects in addition to other projects.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh : A visiting Moroccan official held talks here with his Saudi Arabian counterpart to step up bilateral cooperation in the areas of public administration modernization and human resources management.
In a statement to MAP, Morocco’s Minister Delegate for Administration and Civil Service Reform, Mohamed Ben Abdelkader underlined the importance of cooperation between the two countries to further strengthen the existing bilateral ties.
He added that Wednesday’s meeting also provided the opportunity to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation within the framework of the Arab Organisation for Administrative Development.
He also said he invited his Saudi counterpart Sulaiman bin Abdullah Al-Hamdan to participate in the UN Public Service Forum to be held from June 21 to 23 in Marrakech on the theme ‘Transforming governance to realize the Sustainable Development Goals’.
—IANS/MAP
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh : Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief), signed four new joint cooperation agreements on Tuesday to provide humanitarian assistance to Yemen.
The agreements, with a total fund of $5,333,000, were approved at KSRelief’s headquarters in Riyadh with the following humanitarian partners: the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Benevolence Coalition for Humanitarian Relief.
Dr. Al Rabeeah signed the first and second agreements with the Benevolence Coalition for Humanitarian Relief which aims to implement programs in Hadhramaut, Shabwah, Aden, Lahij and Al Jawf to improve Yemeni livelihoods, the agreement aims to help support more than 20,000 Yemenis directly and indirectly.
The second agreement with the same organization aims to help families who lost their main breadwinner in Yemen to become self-reliant and to find stable sources of income.
The third agreement signed with the United Nations (FAO) will provide funding to implement an integrated response action plan to meet requirements in Yemen’s agriculture and food security sectors. It is expected that 147,000 people will benefit from the initiative, including farmers and the most vulnerable residents of the Al Hodeidah and Abyan governorates.
The fourth agreement signed with the IOM aims to help reintegrate returnees and settle displaced students into host communities in the Lahij area. The fund will provide assistance to 3,468 students with the aim of contributing to the social stability of Lahij, by improving educational opportunities for its youth.
—AG/UNA-OIC
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Aden (Yemen) : The Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has strongly criticised Saudi Arabia and warned against “westernising projects” masterminded by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
The AQAP group mainly based in Yemen released its news bulletin on Friday and blasted Saudi authorities for establishing new “entertainment authority” that is seeking to “replace mosques with cinemas, concerts, movies and wrestling matches”, Xinhua news agency reported.
AQAP called on Muslim scholars to warn against such “westernising projects” and suggested that an imminent popular anger will bring down the Saudi crown prince.
According to AQAP newsletter, the ruling era of bin Salman aimed at “substituting books of imams with absurdities of the atheists and secularists.”
It added that the Saudi crown prince and his companions are working on changing the ruling system in the Islamic country by “opening the door wide for corruption and moral degradation.”
The AQAP network, mostly operating in Yemen’s eastern and southern provinces, has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces in the country.
The US military has carried out several airstrikes against AQAP fighters in different provinces of the war-torn Arab country since US President Donald Trump approved expanded military operations against the group.
The fights included intensified overnight airstrikes and ground military raids against the Al-Qaeda hideouts in the mountainous areas of al-Bayda and southeastern province of Shabwa.
The Yemen-based AQAP, seen by the US as Al-Qaeda’s most dangerous branch, has exploited years of deadly conflicts between Yemen’s government and Houthi rebels to expand its presence, especially in southeastern provinces.
—IANS
