Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, has announced it will provide £20 million to the Humanitarian Leadership Academy to launch ten centers to enable rapid response across the world, in partnership with Save the Children. These centers will offer the next generation of frontline humanitarian staff the latest insight and technology, and empower those most affected by emergencies to be the first responders. The Academy plans to train frontline aid workers and volunteers across 50 countries to prepare people to respond to humanitarian disasters in their own country. It is a truly global collaboration between the private sector, governments, academia and NGOs. The headquarters is located in London and hosted by Save the Children, where a group of academics and specialists in humanitarian work meet to exchange research, ideas, and then re-assess the needs of each country in order to make informed decisions. Alwaleed Philanthropies' role will be to leverage its resources and its international network of partners help scale the initiative. Centers have already opened in the Philippines and Kenya, with three further centers to be launched this year — in Bangladesh, the Middle East and a collaboration center in the UK. The foundation also plans to launch centers in Latin America, South and West Africa. Save the Children was one of the first humanitarian organizations to see the need for an initiative like the Humanitarian Leadership Academy and provided the initial investment to establish the Academy, offering support both during the setup phase and beyond. The Academy announced on Thursday that it will be launching its new digital learning platform – Kaya – at the World Humanitarian Summit on May 23. The Kaya platform is a one-stop shop designed to help train those working on the frontline of a humanitarian disaster. Kaya will train the next generation of humanitarian leaders and responders, especially those located in vulnerable crisis-affected countries and communities. Kaya is an evolving and flexible platform and will be sharing content from global, regional, country and local partnerships. Princess Lamia Bint Majed Saud Al Saud, secretary general of Alwaleed Philanthropies, said: "We are living in an era of unprecedented humanitarian disasters, and so far the global response to these disasters has been inadequate. We need to do more to ensure that humanitarian needs are better served at the point of impact, especially in the critical life-saving 72-hour aftermath of any crisis. "The Humanitarian Leadership Academy will be central to our efforts to meet this challenge. It will harness cutting edge technology to ensure a rapid-response and on-the-ground training to those on the front line of a crisis. This is what the future of disaster relief looks like, and we at Alwaleed Philanthropies are proud to be involved." Saba Al Mubaslat, CEO of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy, said: "This partnership is a true example of the power of collaboration. We are delighted to partner with Prince Alwaleed, a philanthropist who sees the benefit of investing in front-line responders, investing in peace and investing in a global public good. Alwaleed Philanthropies will bring their knowledge and expertise to the humanitarian sector and help us support, collaborate and enable local leaders. "This is why we are asking, at the World Humanitarian Summit, for all individuals to make a personal commitment to make the changes happen by signing up to this pledge – "I commit to collaborate across boundaries to recognize, enable and sustain local and national humanitarian capabilities and leadership." Prince Alwaleed attends 20th Microsoft CEO Summit Prince Alwaleed, Chairman of Kingdom Holding Company (KHC), attended the 20th Microsoft CEO Summit held at the Microsoft Conference Center in Redmond Campus in Washington, Seattle. The Prince's visit was in response to an invitation from Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft to attend the event. The summit was exclusive to 100 CEOs most influential in the world. During the summit Prince Alwaleed and Gates discussed the latest economic developments in addition to topics related to KHC's international investments including its stake of 47.5% in the Four Seasons, which is co-owned by Bill Gates' Cascade with a 47.5% stake, which the remaining 5% is owned by Isadore Sharp. Also, the two discussed future potential collaboration. During the function, Prince Alwaleed met with some of the most prominent CEOs that included Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO. There was an opportunity to discuss general issues, topics related to investments and Alwaleed's international investments through KHC especially in the United States.
