Britain And Saudi Arabia Promise IDR 80 Billion To Overcome Rising Nutrition Shortages In Somalia

Illustration of Somali children. (Wikimedia Commons/Robert van der Steeg)

JAKARTA - British and Saudi Arabian authorities have pledged funds of 5 million US dollars (around Rp. 80,288,000,000) to address the increase in malnutrition in Somalia.

The funds, donated through UNICEF, will provide water, sanitation and hygiene services to 50,000 women and children in the country, which are affected by conflict and drought.

This has been promised as part of a partnership that has been established, in which Britain and Saudi Arabia have committed US$22 million (around Rp353,267,200,000) to help people affected by the conflict.

The latest funding was announced at the UK-Saudi Strategic Dialogue on the second International Humanitarian and Development Assistance in Riyadh Monday, which discussed efforts to provide more assistance to Gaza and drive progress towards peace in Sudan.

These programs will be distributed through the KSrelief and the Saudi Fund for Development, the main Royal aid and development agency.

British Deputy Foreign Minister and Minister of State of Development and Africa Andrew Mitchell, said: "I am pleased to be in Riyadh to agree on a significant way to increase joint funding that will greatly help the community and communities in need. That is the most important thing, based on today's announcement," quoted from The National News May 7.

"I also discussed the need to end the conflict in Gaza with my partners in Saudi. Britain remains focused on immediately stopping the fighting, securing the release of hostages and ensuring aid reaches those who need it," he continued.

Meanwhile, King Salman's Central Director General of Aid and Humanitarian Assistance as well as Royal Court Advisor Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, said: "In the future, we hope to improve our technical experience and capacity development by building a strong foundation built in the past. dialogue, which presents valuable opportunities to strengthen our future direction, explore new areas of cooperation, and further demonstrate the transformative potential of our partnership."

"Operations from both sides actively identify promising opportunities for further collaboration. KSrelief sees great potential for utilizing our strengths in various fields such as health interventions, development of educational infrastructure, and livelihood creation programs," he added.

It is known, this partnership has contributed to projects providing hunger aid and humanitarian support in Somalia and Sudan.

Further cooperation is expected, with additional humanitarian projects and joint development planned for Sudan, Yemen, Bangladesh, and Ukraine.