Day: May 21, 2022

Bishkek– Upon directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Riyadh-based King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has handed over 25 tons of dates to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The gift was delivered yesterday by the Saudi Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan Ibrahim bin Radi Al-Radi in the presence of the Director of Social Insurance, an affiliate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Insurance and Immigration of Kyrgyzstan Agtan Balbagov and a team from KSrelief.

This is part of KSrelief’s keenness to provide the needy and afflicted countries around the world with their actual needs in coordination with government partners and UN, international and local organizations to reach beneficiaries and limit the ramifications of humanitarian crises.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Hargeysa– Riyadh-based King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has distributed as many as 700 food baskets in Snaj enclave of Somaliland, benefiting 40200 people.

This is part of KSrelief’s effort to enhance food security around the world.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– The Speaker of the Shura Council, Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ibrahim Al Al-Sheikh, will head the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s delegation to 33rd Extraordinary Emergency Conference of the Arab Inter-Parliamentary Union to be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt tomorrow to take a position on the Palestinian cause.

In a press statement, Dr. Al Al-Sheikh affirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH Crown Prince has been supportive of the joint Arab action and all Arab and Islamic issues, foremost the Palestinian cause, stressing the Kingdom’s support for the Palestinian people to reach a just and comprehensive solution by establishing an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital.

He pointed to the importance of cooperation between the parliamentary councils in the Arab and Islamic countries to play an effective parliamentary role and exercise their roles in all parliamentary forums in defense of the Palestinian people and their just cause until they achieve all their rights on their lands.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

London, May 20, 2022, SPA– The Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) Summit in Emerging Markets, organized by the Future Investment Initiative Foundation (FII), kicked off in London today, with the participation of various international investors, world and thought leaders, policymakers, global CEOs and heads of sustainability.

The one-day summit will discuss two main topics: the future of environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and the future of sustainability, with the participation of more than 40 international leaders and experts who are scheduled to speak, led by Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of FII Institute and Dr. Yasmine Fouad, the Egyptian Minister of Environment, CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink.

The summit will also discuss several issues, including the transition to a green economy, the importance of focusing on emerging economies, the means to empower the next generation of global leaders to support environmental, social, and institutional sustainability initiatives, the challenges of the rise of the real economy, and the challenges of shifting from divestment to participation in it and shaping the evolution of sustainable finance related to combat climate change projects, in addition to technical innovations and ways to advance important progress in sustainability and the relationship of providing financing to clean energy production projects.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Kabul– King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) today distributed 400 food baskets to the needy people in Sarkhrud city, Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan, benefiting 400 families.

This comes within the framework of the relief and humanitarian efforts being provided by the Kingdom, represented by the Center, to many needy and affected countries and peoples.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh, May 20, 2022, SPA– King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) participated via video conference yesterday in the closing conference to review the project to protect and empower women and girls affected by gender-based violence in Yemen and launch seven training guides, with the participation of 34 organizations from Yemen and Iraq. Director of the Branches Department at KSrelief, Mubarak Bin Saeed Al-Dossari, who represented the Center at the conference, said that the project to protect women affected by gender-based violence in Yemen contributed to the protection and empowerment of Yemeni women, alleviated their suffering, and enhanced awareness among societies, especially in light of crises and disasters, citing the projects submitted by KSrelief, which benefited a total of 113,688,084 women in 73 countries, covering all sectors of relief and humanitarian work, at a total cost of $533,746,786.

Al-Dossari stressed that the center relies in its work on principles based on providing aid and relief services to the needy and the afflicted people worldwide, with a mechanism for monitoring accurate indicators and advanced and fast methods, which are carried out through cooperation with 175 partners from United Nations organizations and international and local non-profit organizations in the beneficiary countries, and that the projects and programs offered by the center are taken into consideration to be diverse per the beneficiaries needs and the circumstances in which they live or have been exposed to.

KSRelief official pointed out that this support is an extension of Saudi Arabia’s keenness under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and in the framework of the continuous humanitarian efforts provided by KSrelief since its inception in 2015 to be a leading center for relief and humanitarian efforts and to convey the values of the Kingdom to the world and achieve its moral commitment and mission to support the people and provide them with a decent life.

Al-Dossari expressed the center’s pride in launching the project with UN Women to ensure knowledge-based sustainability in the areas of protection and economic empowerment, especially in conflict situations, which were developed per international standards.

For her part, the representative of the United Nations Women in Iraq and Yemen Dina Zorba thanked KSrelief for funding the project to empower women and girls survivors of gender-based violence, which serves a sensitive segment of Yemeni society, and for the joint and effective coordination throughout the implementation period of the project, as well as for designing seven reference training guides per international standards aimed at raising the efficiency of women’s support and protection centers in partnership between KSrelief and the UN Women, adding that she is looking forward to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two sides in the future.

The project aims to establish centers for the protection and empowerment of women, train workers to provide protection programs for women affected by violence based on social violence and treat, raise awareness and protect women from violence, as well as economic empowerment for women affected in the governorates of Aden and Taiz. The project also aims to develop resources, training materials and guides to ensure knowledge-based sustainability in the areas of protection and economic empowerment, especially in conflict situations.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Hajjah, Yemen– Al-Jadah Health Center clinics in Midi district, Hajjah Governorate, Yemen, provided treatment services to 11,841 beneficiaries during the month of April 2022 AD, with the support of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) .

The emergency clinic received 1,392 patients, the internal medicine clinic 1,176, the reproductive health clinic 126, the surgery and dressing department 255, the epidemiological clinic 479, the pediatric clinic 83 children, the radiology department benefited 267 patients, the laboratory 903, Awareness and Education department 3,548, medical referral department 27, obstetric department 37, the Nursing Services Department 739, blood transfusion department 4, while 3,548 patients were given medicines, and 12 activities have been implemented to dispose of waste.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Jeddah– Jeddah Season 2022 launched the activities of the world’s famous Japanese “Anime Village” in the “City Walk” zone, which includes many Japanese shows, cultural events and art concerts in the presence of Japanese personalities and many fans of the international anime event.

The opening activities of the Japanese anime, which will last for three days, witnessed the largest cosplay parade, in which 50 models participated, anime music shows, a concert by the artist Rasha Rizk, Watch Otaku, and many interesting Japanese events with which the visitors interacted.

The Jeddah Season’s management has prepared the “Anime Village” in the zone of City Walk, which is the first of its kind in the world, “Anime Village” with many services for the visitor to spend a journey in the world of art and entertainment with a distinctive Japanese character as the Japanese street welcomed its visitors with show bands, Japanese restaurants, anime stores, anime labyrinth and global anime plays.

Fifty award-winning Japanese anime showrunners from around the world participated in this show art, which attracted the admiration of visitors.

Jeddah Season’s Department has allocated an hour for young talents to participate daily in Japanese culture and learn about international experiences in this field, from Sunday to Wednesday every week.

The “City Walk” zone, which hosts the “Anime Village”, is one of the most important zones for Jeddah Season activities, with its diverse options, multiple locations and its suitability for different ages of both genders.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Brussels, May 20, 2022, SPA– European External Action Service Spokesman Peter Stano has reiterated that the aim of presenting the working paper on cooperation with the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) for the Arab States aims to establish a strategic partnership between the EU and the GCC.

Stano, during the European Commission’s daily press briefing, stated that this cooperation comes among other factors given the current geopolitical developments, adding that the European Union is stronger with its partners.

He added, “Together with our partners, we represent 20% of the global economy, and half of the foreign direct investments,” noting that there the two parties have other areas of common interest such as climate, green transformation, and energy.

GCC Secretary-General, Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, had welcomed the European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell’s announcement of the adoption of the joint working paper of the European Parliament and the European Commission, on the “strategic partnership with the Gulf states” to expand and deepen the European Union’s cooperation with the GCC.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

London, May 20, 2022, SPA– The Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute revealed today the comprehensive rating methodology for investment in environmental, social, and corporate governance, which aims to enrich and accelerate investments in environmental, social, and corporate governance in emerging economies.

This came during the FII-organized Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) Summit in Emerging Markets, held at the Rosewood Hotel in London, with the participation of Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of FII Institute, experts, heads of corporations and officials from 40 countries.

Richard Attias, CEO of FII Institute, said in a statement: “Our work at the FII is focused on raising awareness about the weaknesses in the current standards for investment in the environment, society and governance, and their impact on global sustainability prospects, and calling for a comprehensive and equitable application of environmental and social and corporate governance, by stimulating actual action by major key players around the world”.

He added that the “comprehensive rating framework and methodology for investment in environmental, social and corporate governance” were developed in partnership with Ernst & Young, to provide unbiased ratings to companies in emerging markets, with a focus on sectoral challenges rather than country risks, to ensure the achievement of the principle of fair competition between companies in both emerging and developed markets”.

During the summit, an investment of €500,000 was announced in Timbeter, one of the leading companies in green technology, specializing in timber metering. Moreover, an introductory document on investing in environmental, social, and corporate governance has been released, calling on investors, governments, and companies in emerging markets to step up their efforts and improve performance

The initiative also called on investors to publicly pledge to increase the share of capital allocated to emerging markets from less than 10% to a minimum of 30% of allocated and invested capital, by 2030 and urged governments to encourage companies based in emerging markets to become more active in disclosing relevant information through its regular reporting channels.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh, May 20, 2022, SPA– The MEDIATHON executive team announced the extension of the deadline for receiving applications and qualitative projects till May 27, 2022, instead of May 20, as per the desire of individuals and entities wishing to join the competition.

The number of registered teams in the media competition “MEDIATHON” has reached around 600 teams, with the latest number of visitors to the race website amounting to nearly 1.5 million.

The extension decision represents an opportunity that the race offers to those interested and who are yet to register due to a shortage of time.

The MEDIATHON race is an initiative presented by the Ministry of Information’s Center for Government Communication (CGC) and implemented in cooperation with the STC Group.

The project offers media professionals and interested people an opportunity to compete to bring about qualitative initiatives and projects that contribute to providing creative solutions to media challenges and submit them through the project’s portal (mediathon.media.gov.sa).

Source: Saudi Press Agency

Riyadh– GASTAT’s spokesman, Mohmmad Aldukhainy clarified that according to Royal Decree No. m/13 dated 2341391, participation in the General Population Census is mandatory based on article (four) of the decree, and questions asked by census interviewers must be answered.

The country’s general statistics law issued by Royal Decree No. 23 dated 7/12/1397 AH has granted GASTAT the authority to apply monetary fines to anyone who knowingly disrupts the census work, refuses to provide the required data, or provides incorrect data, he said.

“We received many inquiries through GASTAT’s communication channels asking if participation in the Saudi Census is mandatory and how the fines resulting from non-participation will be applied. I would like to assure all residents that fines are limited to those who refuse participation completely. The census interviewer cannot impose any fine directly and must get the approval of the regional supervisor. Fines will only be issued after directly warning household heads through regional supervisors, and after providing them with several opportunities to comply with the requirements”, he added.

GASTAT’s spokesman praised the high level of awareness of citizens and residents and their cooperation during the previous and current census phases, where only a limited number of participation refusal cases were reported. He also stressed that participation in the census is a national duty and a responsibility shared by all society members, as the census will provide reliable and trusted data to improve decision making and planning of public services such as education and health care.

Aldukhaini pointed out that GASTAT has enabled citizens and residents to easily participate in the census and avoid penalties through self-enumeration online. Through the census website, the census questionnaire can be filled using smart phones or personal computers from anywhere and at any time until the 25th of May without the need for a visit from a census interviewer. This can be done by visiting the online portal of the Saudi Census 2022 on the following link: https://survey.saudicensus.sa/en

GASTAT has also made several channels available to support census participants in completing the questionnaire. GASTAT support can be reached through the authorities help line number (920020081), or through GASTAT’ social media accounts, and the Saudi Census 2022 portal

Source: Saudi Press Agency