JEDDAH, 24 February 2004 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd yesterday gave SR50 million to the Charitable Fund to Combat Poverty at the launch of a major fundraising campaign.
Labor and Social Affairs Minister Ali Al-Namlah said the king’s donation would greatly help the fund’s programs.
The fund was set up following the visit of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, to a slum area in Riyadh in November of 2002 when he called for a national strategy to wipe out poverty in the country.
It “aims to tackle poverty in the Kingdom in a non-traditional manner,” according to Al-Namlah.
Al-Namlah asked the public to contribute generously to the fund’s account (No. 999/3) with Arouba Branch 362 of Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation.
Since the crown prince’s visit to the Riyadh slum, the Kingdom has stepped up its anti-poverty campaign through various programs including construction of housing projects for the poor in various parts of the country.
The Prince Abdullah Foundation, a charity established by the crown prince, is building emergency housing projects for the poor in six villages on the Kingdom’s western and eastern coasts.
The project covers Al-Shabaan and Al-Hassa villages in the Tabuk Region, Al-Nabah village in the Madinah Region, Al-Ghala village in the Makkah Region, Al-Raas Birraith village in the Jizan Region and Al-Juran village in the Eastern Province, according to Dr. Yousuf Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the organization.
