Throughout August 2025, UNDP Saudi Arabia marked World Humanitarian Day (19 August) by celebrating our strategic partnership with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) — a collaboration that is redefining how humanitarian response and development intersect in times of crisis.

Since 2022, UNDP and KSrelief have worked side by side to deliver early recovery interventionsthat bridge urgent humanitarian needs with long-term resilience. Together, we have brought clean water to displaced families in Gaza, restored livelihoods in Yemen’s coastal communities, and rehabilitated public bakeries in Syria — turning basic services into lifelines for millions.

Recent initiatives under the partnership have included improving access to safe drinking water for displaced families in Gaza, strengthening national response teams in Yemen to address environmental risks from the Rubymar shipwreck, restoring public bakeries in Syria to ensure food security, and installing solar-powered water wells in Somalia to help communities adapt to drought and climate change.

These efforts form part of a broader portfolio of 11 joint projects across the region, covering humanitarian response, social protection, livelihoods, and resilience-building. Among these projects are the Vocational and Business Skills Training and Support (Phases I & II) in Yemen, the Women Empowerment and Renewable Energy programme in Yemen, and the large-scale Safer Salvage Operation. Other initiatives include Social Protection to Provide Social Cohesion in Yemen, Support for salvage efforts on the Red Sea Rubymar, Capacity Development and Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities in Somalia, Emergency Medical Response to Crisisin Sudan, WASH Interventions in Sudan and Gaza, and the Rehabilitation of Damaged Bakeriesin Syria.

This partnership is more than aid delivery — it is a model of humanitarian precision, shaped in Riyadh and implemented across some of the world’s most fragile contexts. By anticipating crises, mobilizing resources early, and leveraging UNDP’s global field presence, Saudi Arabia and UNDP are demonstrating that recovery should not wait for peace — it must begin now.

As we celebrated World Humanitarian Day this August, we honored all humanitarian workers and reaffirmed our shared commitment to building a future where resilience is engineered, communities are empowered, and hope is restored.