RIYADH — The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), Saudi Arabia's charity arm, has so far implemented as many 84 educational projects in needy countries worth nearly $200 million. The projects are part of KSrelief's global humanitarian efforts as the center places the education sector at the top of its priorities. The countries that benefited from the projects are Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Thailand, Somalia, Myanmar, Mali, Sudan, Iraq, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso. These educational projects seek to support educational services, prepare school infrastructure, secure operational costs, provide school equipment for students. They also aim to improve teachers' skills, build the capabilities of children specialists in providing psychological and social support, and support children's mothers through education awareness programs. In order to implement these projects, KSrelief has signed several agreements with UN and international organizations to support and finance education sectors in needy and afflicted countries, in addition to cooperation with these international organizations in implementing relevant schemes. In this regard, the center signed an agreement with UNICEF to implement seven various projects with a total value of $46 million for Yemen, with the aim of providing online education to Yemeni children amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in cooperation with the Yemeni education ministry and local authorities in 20 Yemeni governorates. KSrelief, in cooperation with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) offices in Arab countries, implemented three educational projects in Yemen with the aim of enhancing educational opportunities for drop-out children, providing drop-out children with educational opportunities through catch-up programs and alternative courses for education, as well as developing contents and resources related to the fourth goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on quality education. The center, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration, has also implemented assistance projects to help integrate returning and displaced students in host communities in Lahij Governorate, Yemen with a cost of $1 million. KSrelief also signed agreements to implement two executive projects with UNESCO, the first to support the continuation of elementary education for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the other to establish strategic cooperation and partnership between the center and the organization. The first venture aims at expanding opportunities of access to education and guaranteeing the continuation of education for Syrian students in Lebanon, and supporting the rehabilitation of mothers to help them acquire necessary skills, where 10,800 beneficiaries have benefited from the project whose total value stood at $3 million. The second project aims at establishing strategic cooperation and partnership between KSrelief and UNESCO in the field of educational programs at the levels of building capacities, training, information exchange, studies, and research. These efforts add to KSrelief's cooperation with UNICEF in conducting educational services projects, health rehabilitation, and protection for disabled Syrian children refugees, with a total value of $1.213 million. In cooperation with UNESCO, the center has launched the "Qudurat" (abilities) project to support distance learning in afflicted areas of the 2020 Beirut port explosion, with the aim of enhancing educational capabilities for access to children and supporting the remote educational process at communities affected by the blast in a way that guarantees continued education, with focus on building up teachers' skills and capabilities. KSrelief also signed an agreement with UNICEF to offer educational services and protection to children in facing the COVID-19 pandemic in Somalia, benefiting 18,250 children with a total value of $619,980. All these schemes are part of the efforts exerted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by KSrelief, to stand with brotherly and friendly countries during times of crises, so as to guarantee sustainable educational process and developing the education sector in these countries.
