Ashraf AboArafe
A delegation from the Saudi Fund for Development participated in the Second High-level African Forum for South-South Tripartite Cooperation for Sustainable Development, which is being hosted by the Ugandan capital, Kampala, in the presence of His Excellency Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda, from January 17 to 19, 2023, under the auspices of: The Ugandan government, the Islamic Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the African Peer Evaluation Mechanism (APRM), the African Union Development Agency and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation.
The Saudi Fund for Development’s participation in this forum comes within the framework of the Fund’s interest in active participation at the international level, to publicize its efforts, projects and programs, and to highlight its development contributions, which include all sectors in developing countries, with the aim of achieving the goals of sustainable development.
The Saudi Fund for Development was represented by the Director of East and Southern Africa Operations, Eng. Azzam Al-Barrak, who participated in the first session of the forum, which discussed the “global framework for South-South and triangular cooperation to implement the 2063 Agenda and achieve the sustainable development goals,” as he reviewed the Fund’s achievements in the African continent, explaining “Since its establishment in 1975, the Saudi Fund for Development has provided support to 46 African countries by financing more than 408 projects in Africa, at a value of $10.47 billion, representing about 60% of the total projects funded by the Fund, and they include various sectors, such as education and health,” he said. transportation, communications, agriculture, energy, and others.
During the session, in which representatives of international organizations and government agencies participated, Eng. Al-Barrak highlighted the experience of the Saudi Fund for Development in supporting development projects in cooperation with international organizations, as he reviewed the experience of the Fund in implementing the second phase project of the first national program for water and sanitation in Ethiopia. , which aims to increase and sustain service coverage sanitation, and the provision of clean water in rural and urban areas, in line with the sustainable development goals, as the project will serve more than 4 million beneficiaries.
Al-Barrak reviewed the impact of the Saudi Program for Drilling Wells and Rural Development in Africa, funded by a grant from the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the amount of $330 million, administered by the Saudi Fund for Development. More than 4.5 million people in 13 countries benefited from this program, which included drilling and equipping 6,300 water facilities. nation .
The fund also participated in an accompanying exhibition, in which it reviewed, through its introductory pavilion, its development activity spanning more than 48 years, and the developmental role played by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia in supporting the countries of the South, in addition to the importance of the projects it finances in achieving the global sustainable development goals, as the number of development projects and programs funded by the Fund since its inception has reached 697 projects and development programs in 84 developing countries around the world, in order to support various vital sectors.
This exhibition is a global platform for presenting sustainable development solutions to the challenges facing development projects in developing countries, as many international and development organizations, institutions from the public and private sectors, as well as experts in the economic and development fields participated in it.
