The Kingdom is continuing its efforts to improve its humanitarian works and to increase its level of social responsibility by putting foreign aid at the top of the agenda, according to the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC).
In a brief information session on their role and upcoming objectives, Salman Al-Ansari, SAPRAC founder and president, told Arab News that the Kingdom considers its humanitarian and developmental efforts as a religious duty and political mandate to unite international and national efforts toward peace and prosperity.
The SAPRAC aims to educate Americans through one-on-one cultural communication, enriching content, media outreach, intercultural initiatives and events.
He noted that SAPRAC has generated a research study to shed light on the unknown positive acts of support and international generosity offered by the Kingdom.
“Even though the mainstream media did not cover much of the Saudi humanitarian efforts, foreign aid has been at the top of its list of priorities, making the Kingdom one of the top donors in the world since the 1970s,” he said. “If you are to exclude Arab countries, the Kingdom ranks the world’s largest humanitarian donor.”
Al-Ansar said the Kingdom ranked sixth worldwide according to the UN statistical report 2014, and the total amount donated by it over the last four decades surpassed $115 billion, benefiting more than 90 countries all over the world.
Notably, in the research study, SAPRAC mentioned the key role of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KS-RELEIF) that was founded last year as a byproduct of these efforts to centralize the humanitarian activities in the Kingdom and be the leading center for relief and humanitarian initiatives on an international level.