JEDDAH, 10 June 2008 — The development of children and their rights will get much more importance than before with the International Islamic Relief Organization-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) joining hands with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
This follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two organizations at the IIROSA headquarters here yesterday. IIROSA Secretary-General Dr. Adnan Khalil Basha and UNICEF’s Gulf Area Representative Dr. Ayman Abu Laban signed the deal.
“It is an open-ended deal, which means the cooperation between the two organizations is not limited to a specific period of time,” Abu Laban told Arab News. “This is just the beginning of our cooperation and no specific projects are under consideration right now,” he added.
“We have struck the deal with the good intention of serving various sectors concerning the children and young persons better. They include health, education and training and a host of other activities,” Basha said at the signing ceremony.
IIROSA has established a number of vocational training centers and institutions to train needy and poor students in trades such as carpentry, blacksmith, auto mechanic, electrician, tailoring, knitting and computer. He said the UNICEF’s cooperation would be valuable as IIROSA has been initiating, running and subsidizing vocational training centers, as well as IT and secretarial centers.
Providing women, especially widows and orphans, with training in various trades and poor families with interest free loans to start small businesses is among IIROSA’s activities that will get a boost with UNICEF’s cooperation.
In its efforts, to promote cooperation and solidarity between the individual and society, the IIROSA, represented by its domestic and external offices provide help and assistance to those in need both inside the Kingdom and abroad.
For this purpose, IIROSA has established the Society Development Department to cater the needs of the underprivileged categories, such as widows, orphans, the elderly, disabled, the sick, poor students, needy families, productive families, drugs addicts, juveniles, and victims of disaster and calamities.
“These efforts are further encouraged by some businessmen and philanthropists who choose to contribute to charity work in the host country. IIROSA also benefits from large quantities of food materials, house appliances and furniture, allocated by donors for the poor and needy inside Saudi Arabia,” Basha said.
IIROSA also works toward improving the financial situation of families looking after orphans, and consequently improving their standard of living.
“To achieve this goal, female members of the family are given vocational training in trades including sewing and embroidery, knitting, carpet making, animal husbandry and poultry farming etc. After training, the persons are given appropriate tools or instruments of production, according to their respective trade.
