JEDDAH, 7 April 2007 — Palestinian women, including widows, will receive 100 housing units under the King Abdullah Charitable Housing Project, which was launched in the West Bank town of Hebron on Thursday.
Nael Suleiman, representative of the United Nations Human Settlements Program (Habitat), thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque King Abdullah for financing the humanitarian project.
The new housing units will be distributed among Palestinian widows and poor women, he said. “A number of small-scale commercial projects will be established to give these women means to earn their livelihood,” the UN official said.
Minister for Palestinian Prisoners Sulaiman Abu Saneena, Hebron Governor Areef Al-Jaabari, Palestinian Legislative Council member Sahar Al-Qawasmi, and Deputy Minister for Social Affairs Ahmed Al-Tamimi were present at the launching ceremony. Ziyad Al-Shaqra, director of Habitat, commended Saudi Arabia for its continuous support to the Palestinians through its humanitarian projects that have been carried out through the Saudi Relief Committee.
Speaking to the Saudi Press Agency soon after laying the foundation stone for the Hebron project, Shaqra said the housing project was aimed at improving the living conditions of poor Palestinian women and widows in the West Bank town.
The Saudi Relief Committee will also finance small-scale projects worth $6.3 million for the benefit of these women.
He noted the king’s efforts to break the economic sanctions imposed by Western countries against the Palestinian Authority by financing 37 educational, housing, relief and infrastructure projects.
Last year, Saudi Arabia donated $2.6 million to purchase food for 50,000 Palestinian families. The Saudi committee donated the funds to World Food Program to purchase nearly 5,000 metric tons of food. The 100-kilogram Saudi food basket included fortified wheat flour, fortified vegetable oil, sugar and iodized salt.
According to a recent WFP/FAO study, nearly two million Palestinians, 51 percent of the population, are unable to meet their daily food needs without assistance. In response to this deteriorating situation, WFP has expanded the number of poor Palestinians it assists by 25 percent from 480,000 to 600,000 people.
Saudi Arabia also provided SR56.9 million in financial assistance to help Palestinian students complete their higher education. The assistance provided by the Saudi committee covered 75 percent tuition (SR43 million) of 15,989 boys and girls as well as 75 percent tuition (SR6 million) of 1,747 college students, said a statement carried by the SPA.
Of the total amount, SR8 million will be set aside to support 11 Palestinian universities and colleges, the committee said.
Saed Al-Harithy, chairman of the committee, said the panel implemented 35 programs to support the Palestinians at a total cost of SR730 million. The amount was spent on hospitals, medicines, medical equipment, ambulances, treatment of wounded Palestinians in Saudi hospitals, and supplying 50 dialysis units.
Financial aid was also given for establishing computer centers, desalination plants and schools as well as water and electricity networks. “We have repaired 2,545 houses in the West Bank, constructed 600 housing units in Gaza and distributed more than a million baskets of food,” he said.
