RIYADH: Ƶ’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, also known as KSrelief, has signed two cooperation agreements, worth a total of $10 million, to provide medical aid and housing assistance to Ukrainian refugees who have fled to neighboring countries, in particular to those in Poland.
The agreements are with the World Health Organization and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. They were signed during a video conference in the presence of Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, KSrelief’s supervisor general.
The agreement with the WHO, worth $5 million, will support emergency healthcare for refugees by providing and distributing medical supplies requested by Polish health authorities. They include drugs to help treat non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and polio, and for HIV, tuberculosis and COVID-19. The aid will benefit about 1 million people.
The agreement with the UNHCR, also worth $5 million, will help to address the urgent shelter-related requirements of 75,000 Ukrainian refugees in Poland, including the need for 100,000 blankets, 75,000 mattresses, 75,000 bedspreads, 75,000 rubber bed sheets, and 50,000 sleeping bags.
The agreements were signed at KSrelief’s headquarters in Riyadh by Ahmed Al-Baiz, the organization’s assistant general supervisor of operations and programs, Hans-Henri Kluge, the regional director of the WHO in Europe, and Khaled Khalifa, the regional representative of UNHCR.
Al-Rabeeah said the agreements are in line with the directives of Ƶ’s King Salman to provide urgent medical aid and shelter assistance to refugees from Ukraine in coordination with the Polish government and UN organizations. He added that it reflects the leading role the Kingdom plays in international relief and humanitarian work in times of crisis and adversity.
King Salman directed KSrelief on April 13 to provide $10 million of “urgent medical and shelter aid” to Ukrainian refugees, treating those arriving in Poland as a priority.
