- MADINAH: Having donated over $1 billion to the Islamic Development Bank’s Poverty Reduction Fund, Saudi Arabia was at the top of a 2008 list of countries that offered the highest amount of voluntary and unconditional assistance for relief and humanitarian operations.
This was disclosed at the end of the three-day First World Conference on Saudi Arabia's Efforts to Solve Muslim Issues that ended on Tuesday in Madinah. The event, which was attended by over 100 researchers from 35 countries, was jointly organized by the Islamic University in Madinah and the King Foundation for Research and Archives in Riyadh.
It was also announced at the conference that the Kingdom has also generously contributed to the budgets of 18 international financing institutions and given more than $100 billion over the past three decades to about 95 countries. “This amounts to about four percent of the Kingdom's gross national product,” it added.
The conference also commended Saudi Arabia for waiving off more than $6 billion of its foreign debts and for completing payments into a fund established by the International Monetary Fund to reduce debts.
It also praised the Kingdom for organizing interfaith dialogues at the UN, and in Riyadh, Madrid and Geneva, saying these gatherings have had a great impact on explaining Islam and its ability to coexist with other religions.
The conference further lauded the Kingdom's efforts to serve pilgrims, and highlighted the projects to expand the Two Holy Mosques, and other health and transport projects.
It also praised the Kingdom’s support for the Palestinian cause since 1948, its efforts to find a just and lasting peace in the Middle East and reconciliation among Palestinian factions, and continuous endeavors to resolve crises in the Arab and Islamic world.
The conference also hailed the Kingdom for opening its universities and educational institutions to Muslim students from across the world and reminded attendees that over 18,000 Muslim students from about 167 countries are currently studying at the Islamic University in Madinah. Thousands of these students are also studying Islamic Shariah and Arabic at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah and Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh.
The conference also appreciated the Kingdom's efforts to promote a moderate Islam, fight terrorism and religious extremism, and correct the distorted image of Islam.
The conference recommended the activation and establishment of more Saudi friendship societies in friendly countries and called for the setting up of a special department at the Islamic University in Madinah to monitor the Kingdom's efforts to serve Islamic and humanitarian causes.
