Riyadh, April 29, 2024, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through its King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), has joined forces with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in a new alliance aimed at safeguarding children against polio and combating poverty.
In a significant move, the two entities formalized their collaboration by signing a memorandum of cooperation. This agreement, inked on Sunday in Riyadh during the World Economic Forum's special meeting, sets forth ambitious goals to protect 370 million children annually from polio and uplift millions of individuals out of poverty across 33 member countries of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB).
The signing ceremony, graced by Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Adviser to the Royal Court and Supervisor General of KSrelief, and Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, marks a pivotal step in addressing critical global challenges.
Under this partnership, substantial support will be directed towards the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a global effort aimed at eradicating polio, and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), the largest multilateral development initiative in the Middle East.
The LLF's overarching objective is poverty alleviation within the IsDB member states. It achieves this by strategically investing in strengthening primary healthcare systems, combating preventable diseases, supporting small-scale farmers and rural agriculture, and enhancing basic infrastructure.
Through this collaborative endeavor, Saudi Arabia and the Gates Foundation aim to make substantial strides in combating polio and poverty, thereby contributing significantly to global health and socio-economic development efforts.
