Press Release

OFID extends grants worth US$1.4 million

77/2006 September 4, 2006, Vienna, Austria
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The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) today signed six grant agreements, totaling US$1.4 million, with the Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations (AGFUND), the Austrian Relief Organization, the Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture (FPSC) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

A grant of US$600,000 will support Marine Resources Management in the Red Sea, a regional capacity building program spearheaded by IFAD. The initiative aims at improving the management of fisheries resources in the Red Sea by harmonizing policies relating to the sector in seven countries bordering it; namely, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, the Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Grants totalling US$300,000 will be divided equally among three projects created under the AGFUND’s Initiative for Assistance to the Palestinian People, West Bank. The schemes, Skills Training for Marginalized Youth; National Homework Centers; and Women’s Empowerment in Underserved Areas, were planned with the view to help alleviate poverty and improve living conditions among needy communities. Proceeds will be drawn from OFID’s Special Grant Account for Palestine.

A US$250,000 grant will co-finance the Austrian Relief Organization project: Securing Land Tenure and Sustainable Development in the Sofala Province, Mozambique. Aims of the initiative are to assist marginalized, rural families in securing legal titles to their land, and help improve and diversify agricultural production through the implementation of sustainable micro-projects.

Another grant for US$250,000 to the FPSC will go towards the scheme Expansion of CEFIM Vocational Center for Women in La Paz, Bolivia. Activities will include expanding and equipping a vocational training center to help cope with rising enrolment rates. Course curricula will also be updated and capacity building measures implemented among teaching staff.

The agreements were signed, on behalf of OFID, by Mr. Suleiman Al-Herbish, Director-General, and by Mr. Lennart Båge, President, IFAD; HE Eng. Yousef Al-Bassam, Deputy-President of the Administrative Committee, AGFUND; Mrs. Waltraud Klasnic, Chairwoman of the Austrian Relief Organization; and, Mrs. Pilar Lara, President, FPSC.