UNIPATH STAFF
A committee that will manage a multimillion-dollar fund to fight poverty across the Middle East held its first meeting in September 2016 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Formed two years ago by philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates, the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF) plans to invest $2.5 billion in projects aimed at helping poor people in 30 Muslim-majority nations. The fund is supported by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and will be managed by the LLF’s Impact Committee.
The fund combines $2 billion of IDB funding with $500 million in grants. As of September 2016, $400 million in grants had been committed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $100 million by the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, $100 million by the King Salman Relief and Humanitarian Aid Centre, $50 million by the Qatar Fund for Development, and $50 million by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
Forty percent of the world’s poorest people live in IDB-member countries and suffer from limited access to finance. The LLF money has the potential to foster long-term security by easing poverty, a major factor in destabilizing governments and driving disaffected youths to join terror groups.
At its first meeting, chaired by Maher al-Hadrawi, executive director of the King Salman center, the committee approved projects worth $360 million to improve health care and help farmers in the Middle East and Africa produce more bountiful crops.
Ali bin Abdullah al-Dabbagh, director of strategic planning at the Qatar Development Fund, said he was confident the LLF committee “will launch high-quality projects in vital sectors that will reflect positively on improving the living conditions of millions of people across the Islamic world.”
Representing the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Mohamed al-Suwaidi said, “We are proud to be a founding member of this joint regional effort and look forward to realizing the fund’s full capabilities in reaching those most marginalized.”
Sources: Al Bawaba Business, Gulf Times, Philanthropy News Digest