KSA among top donors: UNDP

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is among the world’s largest donors to developing and needy countries around the world, according to a report compiled and released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Monday.
It said the Kingdom occupies the top place ahead of traditional European and Asian donors in terms of the huge aid allocations from its gross national income (GNI).
The UNDP report said “the Kingdom ranked fourth in the league of donors just after the US, the UK and Germany in absolute terms, but, as a percentage of GNI, Saudi Arabia ranks first among nations — far above the 0.7 percent GNI target set by the UN.”
The report said: “The Saudi assistance was provided bilaterally, through institutions such as the Saudi Fund for Development and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, and multilaterally through regional bodies such as Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank and Arab Bank for Economic Development for Africa.”
The 43-page report, signed by Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir and Ashok Nigam, UNDP resident representative, said the Kingdom has been active in providing Official Development Assistance (ODA) since the early 1950s. “In recent years, the Saudi assistance has increased significantly, with gross ODA exceeding SR54 billion in 2014.”
Referring to the progressively growing volume of Saudi aid and assistance across the world, the UNDP said “there has been a sharp increase in the volume of aid and country coverage of Saudi assistance mainly driven by the needs of recipient countries.”
This is in addition to the public campaigns for humanitarian needs organized by the Saudi government, and even led by the kings from time to time.
It said most of the assistance provided during the last 10 years was in grants and humanitarian aid, which represented 78 percent of the gross Saudi donation. To this end, the report mentions that the Kingdom responded quickly and generously to aid appeals for Haiti, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Palestine, Syria, Yemen and a number of other developing countries.
Referring to the role of SFD as a premier state-owned aid organization; the report said that the SFD has channeled an estimated 30 percent of the Kingdom’s overall aid in the form of multilateral cooperation, grants, and concessional loans over 2005-2014 period. “Moreover, the SFD has been a key provider of Saudi development loans, reaching 83 countries since its inception in 1974,” it added.
In cumulative terms, the SFD has signed loan agreements amounting to SR45 billion since 1975, while it has allocated and managed SR70 billion in grants disbursed for different poor countries. Besides the SFD, there are many other agencies including the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center and the Saudi Red Crescent Society, which have extended billions of riyals in aid and relief operations. 
The report has been compiled by a panel composed of representatives from the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of finance, the SFD and the UNDP.