“This will be a new project to ameliorate the living conditions of people by helping them earn a steady income from their chosen employment,” Adnan Khalil Basha, secretary-general of the organization, told a press conference in Riyadh on Sunday.
Basha said IIROSA is putting the final touches for the loan scheme that will be first implemented in the Kingdom among unemployed men and women who need financial support to carry out self-employment.
“This will be done in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the facility will be extended to other countries as well,” he noted.
IIROSA has funded projects in 149 countries and its beneficiaries have reached 88 million people.
Describing it as a socio-economic project, Basha said the loans will be interest-free and borrowers will have an obligation to repay the funds they receive. The loans will be open to both men and women who want to become self-reliant, Basha said, pointing out that the scheme will be similar to the Grameen Bank concept.
In Ramadan the organization spent SR7.55 million to distribute iftar meals among 35,000 poor families in different parts of the Kingdom. IIROSA has also sponsored more than 85,000 orphans around the world, including 13,000 within the Kingdom.
