MOU between Alwaleed Philanthropies and Housing Development Foundation "Sakan"
Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Al Saud, signed a memo of understanding with the Housing Development Foundation - Sakan - on Thursday, 16/7/2020. The prior agreement aims to support the families with the greatest need for adequate housing across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including those covered by social welfare at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and entitled to housing support offered by the Ministry of Housing.
The agreement was signed by and Mrs. Amal Al-Kathiri, Executive Director of National Initiatives at Alwaleed Philanthropies, and Engineer Mishary bin Fahd Al Juwaira, CEO of the Housing Development Foundation (SAKAN) Engineer Al-Juwaira further explained that Sakan seeks to cooperate with the third sector carefully to provide better housing support for families in need across the Kingdom to meet the set standards. He also highlighted that Sakan aims to achieve a definite impact on the housing development, while also making impressive progress through orchestrating all-out and concerted efforts spearheaded by effective partnerships with the public and private sectors.
In the same vein, Engineer Al-Juwaira spelled out that one of the critical pathways of the said memorandum is to provide Alwaleed Philanthropies with the lists of families entitled to such housing support that fully meet the eligibility criteria to accommodate them within Alwaleed Philanthropies Housing Program. Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Al-Husseini, advisor to Sakan, remarked; through the said message, we build various development programs across the professional and social life levels for the families benefiting from the housing units of Alwaleed Philanthropies. Such families are entitled to housing support by the Ministry of Housing to be well trained and gain labor market skills and better cope with challenges and changes in such a manner as to improve the standard of living and raise the savings-related awareness of such families.
For her part, Mrs. Amal Al-Kathiri highlighted the paramount importance of the said agreement in coordinating the efforts made between the two parties in development housing, which is assigned a high priority among the packages of community initiatives and projects. Al-Kathiri further explained that Alwaleed Philanthropies always seeks to organize the efforts between sectors that aim to develop and empower the community economically.
Equally important, Al-Kathiri stated that the said memorandum aims to refurbish and restore the housing units to increase them up to 400 houses in various regions of the Kingdom while engaging voluntarily teams specialized in housing volunteering activity and highlighting their community role. Alwaleed Philanthropies has contributed to providing housing units to more than 16.000 beneficiaries since the launch of its development housing project in 2015; it delivers housing units to families after ensuring that they are eligible for such housing support through the eligibility gateway for social research. Al-Kathiri also emphasized the development side of such families through specialized programs that transfer them from the pastoral circle to the development field.
Given the current precautionary measures due to the COVID19 pandemic, the two parties signed the agreement document virtually via video conference (online). It is noteworthy that the JOOD housing platform and ISTEKAK housing platform are notably two SAKAN housing development initiatives.
For four decades, Alwaleed Philanthropies has supported and spent more than 4 billion dollars on social welfare and initiated more than 1000 projects in over +189 countries, managed by 10 Saudi female members, reaching more than 1 billion beneficiaries around the world, regardless of gender, race, or religion. Alwaleed Philanthropies collaborates with a range of philanthropic, governmental, and educational organizations to combat poverty, empower women and youth, develop communities, provide disaster relief, and create cultural understanding through education. It seeks to build bridges for a more compassionate, tolerant, and accepting world
