In my opinion, this was a great gesture of
kindness, care and compassion demonstrated by King Abdullah
Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud. This contribution from the Kingdom
was considered very timely and was commended in
international forum also. The UN publications also lauded
this compassionate gesture by the Kingdom. Needless to
underscore here, this made me feel proud of the King and the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Admittedly, I must mention here that this
generous show of compassion by Saudi Arabia – under the apt
leadership of King Abdullah – was only a tip-of-the-iceberg.
On many other instances, before this and after, King
Abdullah has been forthcoming in extending that generous and
compassionate arm of help and assistance to many in need.
Some of them are described as follows:
1. In 2005, in the aftermath of the 08
October earthquake in the northern areas of Pakistan, King
Abdullah had said, “We will form a bridge for relief between
Riyadh and Islamabad.” This bridge was indeed formed and all
of us saw that in action at that time. First came his order
of emergency aid for SR500 million. It was followed by a
nation-wide fund-raising campaign to which he made a
personal donation of SR10 million. Upon his appeal, the
Saudi TV then organized a telethon and this telethon
collected more than SR140 million. It was followed with a
large relief convoy of more than 100 containers with food
stuffs, blankets, and tents.
2.
In 2007,
WFP
hailed a generous donation US$2 million from the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia for its operation in Mauritania. This aid from
the Kingdom was directed towards saving young children from
the ravages of malnutrition.
3. In
2007,
WFP thanked the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a US$1 million
donation to its operations in Guinea, where humanitarian
needs have been accentuated as a result of the current
unrest. This generous aid was a great help at a time when
many people were struggling with loss of income and growing
poverty rates.
4. In
2008,
UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
welcomed a US$5m donation by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
in support of its operations for Iraqi refugees in
Syria and Jordan. The donation came as a response to UNHCR's
humanitarian appeal issued in that year to fund the agency's
programs assisting the Iraqi refugees
5. In
2009, Saudi Arabia’s US$100 million pledge to the UN for the
specific purpose of meeting the needs of some 2.7 million
internally displaced persons (IDPs), in northern Pakistan,
is the largest single contribution to
UNHCR.
6. In
2009, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) welcomed a
US$30 million aid from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to
eradicate polio worldwide, making it only the second disease
to be eliminated from the world.
7. In 2010, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
donated 15 tons of dates to UNRWA (United Nations Relief and
Works Agency) for Palestine refugees living in Lebanon. The
donation came in time for the upcoming Ramadan period, when
the daily fast is traditionally broken with the eating of
dates.
8. In 2010, WFP welcomed a donation from the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of 1,098 metric tons of dates valued
at US$3.6 million. According to a news release by WFP, the
donation was used to assist refugees and school children in
Ethiopia.
9. In 2010, during the devastating floods in
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia quietly bypassed the United States as
the single largest aid donor, in real terms. The Kingdom’s
commitment to helping the victims of Pakistan’s devastating
floods crossed US$140 million. Besides this, the Saudi
military also set up a back-to-back air bridge between Saudi
Arabia and Pakistan that saw some 30 large cargo planes
carrying hundreds of tons of relief goods transported there
in no time. The King inaugurated the fund-raising campaign
by personally donating SR20 million, followed with SR10
million from Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz (the
minister of defense and aviation) and SR5 million from the
second deputy premier Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz – the
minister of interior. Additionally, in response to an appeal
from the King, the people of Saudi Arabia also positively
responded and more than US$120 million was collected in cash
during the first 3-day international telethon.
Finally
it was also established as a fact, by the United Nations,
that Saudi Arabia was the largest international donor to
humanitarian appeals, when measured as a percentage of the
national economy. The Saudi kingdom gave 0.19 per cent of
its gross domestic product (GDP) to humanitarian funding,
Sweden which gave 0.14 per cent of its national product and
Norway with 0.13, followed in the list of top donor
countries. Many small European countries, with large and
generally affluent populations, were also part of the lead
countries by GDP. Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were
also large proportional donors. The United States came in
19th on the list, having donated 0.02 per cent of GDP in
2008. These figures were released by the United Nations.
No wonder, all of these above speak volumes
about Saudi Arabia and the custodian of the two holy mosques
– King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud - vis-à-vis their
kindness, care and compassion for all people of this world. |