New York: Today, on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) signed cooperation agreements to support new innovative projects that help meet growing humanitarian needs precipitated by the ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Yemen. UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner and the KSrelief Supervisor General Dr. Abduallah Al Rabeeah witnessed the signing. 

“We are pleased to work with our valued partner UNDP to provide support to those impacted by ongoing conflict and increasing levels of need,” said KSrelief Supervisor General, Dr. Al Rabeeah. “By approaching the world’s challenges using the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus approach, we can improve our ability not only to provide such basic needs as clean, safe water and essential medical care, but also to empower women and other vulnerable groups to help with the long-term solutions required to improve the social and financial stability of families and communities. We are grateful to work with UNDP to save and improve lives through innovative action.”  

The signing came after they jointly convened the second annual panel discussion on strengthening cooperation on the Humanitarian, Development and Peace (HDP) Nexus to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially in contexts of fragility. 

"Conflict amplifies people’s needs by worsening existing challenges, precipitating new humanitarian crises, and severely disrupting the delivery of essential services, often on an exponential scale," said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. "Our deepening collaboration with KSrelief challenges the traditional approach of addressing immediate humanitarian needs and long-term development in a siloed and sequential manner. The agreements signed today represent our shared commitment to coordinated, integrated action on the HDP Nexus – directly responding to people’s urgent needs, strengthening community resilience, and building the solid foundation for sustainable recovery and long-term development -- a proven formula for breaking the cycle of fragility.” 

The agreement for Sudan covers two projects. The first will help enhance access to water for 1.8 million vulnerable people in the states of Kassala and Gedaref, which have received high numbers of people displaced by the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Both states were grappling with water scarcity before the conflict, and the arrival of more than 1.3 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) further stretched the capacities of inadequate water infrastructures, bringing water scarcity to desperate crisis levels.  

With a budget of US$3.5 million, the project will boost access to adequate and safe drinking water by constructing new water supply facilities (water yards and boreholes fitted with hand pumps), rehabilitating existing ones, and powering them through small solar systems. The project adopts an inclusive community-based approach in which it will engage and work closely with the States Water Corporation to empower communities to assume responsibility for ownership, maintenance, equitable and peaceful access, and continued functioning of the systems.  

The second project, valued at US$1.45 million, will improve access to essential healthcare services to communities in Port Sudan, the largest city in Red Sea State, where approximately two million people live – including IDPs – by providing a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner to Port Sudan’s main diagnostic centre. As a result of the ongoing conflict, most of the population across Sudan lacks access to MRI imaging, which is an essential tool for diagnosing most diseases affecting soft tissue, organs, osteoarticular systems and specific tumours. There are only 28 MRI machines in Sudan, and 24 of these are located in Khartoum State, which is not accessible due to the current conflict. 

The agreement for Yemen, will provide 21,375 Yemeni women in the Hadramout and Lahj governorates with the tools and training needed to establish and manage their own small-scale solar energy businesses to help meet the energy needs of their communities and cover basic household activities, including lighting. The project will cost US$2.5 million and will be implemented over the course of one year; this initiative underscores the commitment of both organizations to foster sustainable development by promoting renewable energy solutions to meet the needs of Yemeni households in vulnerable crisis-affected communities while also providing women with new and empowering economic opportunities. 

Press Contacts 

Fanar Idris Alshehri | Int’l Communication & Media Centre | Ksrelief | +966112072901 (4324) | f.i.alshehri@ksrelief.org 

Borhene Fakhfakh | Communication Analyst | UNDP Country Office in Saudi Arabia | borhene.fakhfakh@undp.org  

Miriam Pineau | Communication and Advocacy Lead | UNDP Country Office in Yemen | Miriam.Pineau@undp.org 

David Mikhail | SURGE Communications Advisor | UNDP Country Office in Sudan | david.mikhail1@undp.org  

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and the planet. http://www.undp.org 

King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) is an international organization that provides humanitarian aid and relief outside Saudi Arabia. KSrelief was founded in 2015 by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and has provided support and assistance to millions of people in need around the world. https://www.ksrelief.org/home/index