Saudi Arabia Donates US$10.8 million for UNHCR's Pakistan Projects Riyadh, 22 June 2010 - The Saudi Arabian government has granted more than US$10 million to the UN refugee agency for its operations to help tens of thousands of forcibly displaced people in Pakistan. The Saudi Fund for Development pledged US$10.8 million to UNHCR under a memorandum of understanding signed on Sunday, World Refugee Day, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The document was signed by Yousef I. Al-Bassam, vice chairman and managing director of the Fund, and UNHCR Regional Representative Yacoub El Hillo. "This is a timely and important contribution which is a testimony of the gesture of solidarity of the people and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the people and government of Pakistan at this difficult time," UNHCR Representative to Pakistan Mengesha Kebede said in Islamabad. UNHCR will use the funds to purchase food and relief items for tens of thousands of Pakistani civilians who were displaced by violence in the north-western of the country in 2008 and last year. The items include 25,000 tents, 379,200 blankets, 126,400 plastic sheets, 100,000 sleeping mattresses and 25,000 kitchen sets in addition to 20,000 food packs, which will be distributed during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan starting in August. Some 920,000 civilians are still internally displaced in Pakistan, including 124,000 in special camps. Photo: The beneficiaries of the Saudi funding will be internally displaced Pakistanis, like these women and children. About UNHCR: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country. In more than five decades, the agency has helped tens of millions of people restart their lives. Today, a staff of some 6,600 people in more than 110 countries continues to help about 34 million persons. To learn more, please visit www.unhcr.org. For further information, please contact: • for local inquiries (UAE): Firas Kayal External Relations Officer UNHCR Abu Dhabi Tel.: +971-2-6677668 Mobile: + 971-50-6139439 Fax: + 97126676615 E-mail: kayal@unhcr.org • for international inquiries: Andrej Mahecic Senior Information Officer UNHCR Geneva Phone: +41 22 739 86 57 Mobile: +41 79 200 76 17 E-mail: mahecic@unhcr.org • or UNHCR Media + Public Information Service phone: +41 22 739 85 02 fax: +41 22 739 73 14 e-mail: hqpi00@unhcr.org