Prince Ahmed, interior minister and general supervisor of the National Fundraising Campaign for Syrians (NFCS), has ordered an immediate relief program for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Turkey, with one already under way in Jordan.
The SR 19.98 million program, which comes under the first phase of Saudi relief programs for Syrians, will supply family and children with food packets and health kits.
The prince’s directive came after the NFCS campaign scanned areas where displaced Syrians are currently camping for their basic needs and assessed the best way to transport relief material to refugees at minimal time. The campaign has also arranged for administrative and field staff to supervise humanitarian assistance in line with regulations of Saudi relief committees and campaigns, the Saudi Press Agency reported yesterday.
The present campaign has adopted a two-way approach. The first is to send relief caravans carrying food donated by Saudis for distribution in Jordan and the second is to ensure direct food supply to Syrian families camped out in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Such measures will be undertaken as early as next week.
The campaign, which has collected close to SR 530 million so far, is racing against time with a number of humanitarian organizations to offer essential health care, relief and shelter to displaced Syrians.
The campaign is continuing its collection of donations through the National Commercial Bank and is receiving donations in kind at the campaign’s warehouses in Riyadh and Jeddah throughout the day or at night.
Meanwhile, the NFCS supplied relief material to 650 Syrian families at the Zaatari camp in Mafraq close to the Syrian border in northern Jordan. Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Fahd bin Abdul Mohsen Al-Zaid said that following the arrival of Saudi trucks with relief material at the warehouses of the Hashemite Charity Society and the High Commission for Refugees in the city of Mafraq, the Saudi Embassy officially handed them over to the Jordanian agencies. The ambassador added that 10 truckloads of relief material were distributed at the camp yesterday and that the remaining truckloads would be distributed in the coming days.
Donations to the NFCS can be sent to NCB account SA2310000020188888000100.
New relief program for Syrian refugees ordered
