A delegation from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), headed by its director general, Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, signed SR29 million worth of grant agreements at the conclusion of a high-level mission to Palestine.
The OFID, in which Saudi Arabia has a major stake, has also announced plans to expand its Palestine grant program once Palestine becomes independent.
“The OFID is increasing the visibility of its support to the Palestinian people in 2014, which has been designated by the UN as an international year of solidarity with the Palestinian people,” said Al-Herbish, a Saudi national who currently heads the Vienna-based multilateral development finance institution.
“The primary purpose of the mission was also to reciprocate the visit of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to OFID’s headquarters last year,” he said.
“Several important issues were discussed during my meeting with President Abbas, including OFID’s long-standing partnership with Palestine, which began over 35 years ago,” he said.
Al-Herbish signed a $500,000 grant agreement with Mohammad Mustafa, chairman of the Board of the Mahmoud Abbas Foundation, to fund a special OFID scholarship scheme that will enable 70 high-achieving students among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to enrol in Lebanese universities.
At the signing ceremony, Al-Herbish emphasized the full commitment of OFID’s governing board in support of Palestine’s socio-economic development, which it treats as a priority program.
The five-day mission, led by Al-Herbish, began in Amman, where he signed a $200,000 grant agreement with the University of Jordan. The grant will support a project implemented by the center for the restoration of rare manuscripts from Jerusalem.
The delegation also attended the inauguration ceremony of the OFID Surgical Department at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, the equipment of which OFID supported with a $1 million grant. Then, Al-Herbish signed a $2.5 million grant agreement with Margot Ellis, deputy commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The grant proceeds will co-finance a program that will help improve the quality of education for some 1,600 pupils attending three schools at the Shu’fat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem. The delegation also visited the Shu’fat schools and Budrous village in northwest Jerusalem, where a tree had been planted in honor of Al-Herbish and OFID in an olive grove dedicated to “UNRWA’s friends.”
A signing ceremony also took place with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where Al-Herbish signed four grant agreements totaling $3.3 million with Frode Mauring, special representative of the administrator at the UNDP Program of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) for four major projects/programs.
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