RIYADH, 8 May 2006 — The United Nations will hold a workshop for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Riyadh to discuss closer operational cooperation with the Kingdom in collecting and disbursing funds for humanitarian aid.

The workshop will be held in cooperation with the Saudi Red Crescent, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY).

Speaking to Arab News from Dubai, Ivo Freijsel, the regional head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said his office was currently coordinating with NGOs in the Kingdom to hold the workshop geared to make their charitable activities more transparent to the world.

“The meeting will be designed to draw up an action plan for charitable and humanitarian organizations in the Kingdom to coordinate with the UN agencies in collecting and funding humanitarian causes abroad,” Freijsel said.

He added that the workshop would introduce the international response tools and mechanisms which can be activated in times of disaster.

Dr. Saleh Sulaiman Al-Wohaibi, the secretary-general of WAMY, stressed the importance of cooperation with the UN and its agencies, saying that both organizations share the same goal in supporting victims of droughts and disasters.

He said WAMY is working internationally for rehabilitation of these victims by providing food, shelter, clothing and medicine. However, Al-Wohaibi regretted that there are many countries that hinder cooperation between Islamic relief organizations and the UN.

He pointed out that WAMY has been seeking the membership of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the UN for the past three years, but its efforts have been thwarted by the American representative who blocked its entry.

“This has prevented humanitarian and charitable organizations from cooperating fully with the UN and its agencies,” he said.

During his recent trip to the Kingdom, UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland acknowledged that NGOs are facing genuine difficulties in the transfer of funds that they collect for their respective projects.

He said that he has taken up this matter with the authorities in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere that NGOs should cooperate with the UN system, and that all obstacles in the transfer of funds abroad for humanitarian projects should be eliminated. “This will be through international bank accounts where it is audited for transparency,” he added.