Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will provide over $600 million to save 370 million children annually from polio and lift millions out of poverty in 33 countries members of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has announced.
A memorandum of cooperation signed by KSrelief Supervisor General Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair Bill Gates, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Special Meeting held in Riyadh, stipulated the following:
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will provide $500 million over the next five years to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which is a public-private partnership led by national governments in beneficiary countries and six other partners, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This contribution will help provide vital healthcare services and polio vaccines in beneficiary countries through the World Health
Organization and UNICEF, both partners in this initiative.
The Kingdom will contribute $100 million, through the KSrelief, to support the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), the largest multi-stakeholder development initiative in the Middle East that aims to lift 33 countries member of the IsDB out of poverty by investing in improving primary healthcare, eliminating preventable infectious diseases, supporting smallholder farmers and agriculture, and improving basic infrastructure.
The Kingdom, also through KSrelief, will contribute $3 million, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute $15 million to fund the Polio Fund in Afghanistan, to help improve the healthcare system in Afghanistan and sustain efforts to eradicate polio, ensuring the provision of essential healthcare services to millions of children and focusing on the most vulnerable groups.
The Kingdom and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will contribute $4 million each as a humanitarian relief grant to aid the acute humanitarian need
s in Gaza Strip. UNICEF will distribute the funding to implement interventions in the health sector and provide essential water and sanitation services.
Al Rabeeah expressed gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and to His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for their constant support and great interest in humanitarian work, due to which the Kingdom enjoys a high global standing.
KSrelief has implemented 2,829 humanitarian and relief projects worth more than $6 billion in 98 countries, in cooperation with 180 international partners. These projects target vital sectors such as education, health, nutrition, food, water and sanitation, environment, and shelter, among others.
Tens of millions from among the most vulnerable and needy people in targeted countries have benefited from these projects.
Source: Saudi Press Agency