Saudi Committee for the Relief of Palestinian People Donates $3-million to Palestinian Children
JERUSALEM / RIYADH, SEPTEMBER 5, 2005 — The Saudi Committee for the Relief of Palestinian People is giving US$3.6 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) towards critical projects supporting children in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
The contribution is part of a new strategic framework with UNICEF for assistance to children in oPt. It emerged from meetings this spring between representatives from UNICEF's Gulf Area Office and OPT and senior officials from the Saudi Ministry of the Interior.
The fresh funding will focus on assistance in education and health for the new generation of Palestinian adolescents.
"UNICEF and the Saudi Committee for the Relief of Palestinian People come together at this critical time when assistance in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are more important than ever following disengagement," said Dan Rohrmann, the UNICEF Special Representative in OPT. “There are immense challenges but also immense opportunities in terms of improving the lives of children. It is heartening to see the Saudi Committee providing such a major boost.”
June Kunugi, UNICEF Representative for the Gulf countries, said: “This generous contribution is a landmark agreement and we thank the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and its people for partnering with UNICEF to safeguard the well-being and rights of children, in this instance in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
The Saudi Committee for the Relief of Palestinian People was established in 2000, and has since donated some US$200 million to projects in OPT. The Committee has provided cash and in-kind assistance in addition to funding educational and medical activities as well as reconstruction schemes.
UNICEF – the world’s most influential advocate for children – has been working to improve the situation of children and women in oPt since the early 1980s. Go to: www.unicef.org/oPt and www.unicef.org/oPt/arabic
For further information, contact:
Michael Bociurkiw
Tel: +9722 5830013 ext. 242
Mobile: +972-577-293214
Email: Mbociurkiw@unicef.org
Omar Shehadeh
UNICEF Dubai Country Office
Tel : + [971] 4 3680702
Mobile: + [971] 50 6516324
Email: oshehadeh@unicef.org
oshehade@emirates.net.ae
Document Sources: United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)
Country: Saudi Arabia
Subject: Children, Humanitarian relief
Publication Date: 05/09/2005