Press Release

Grants totaling US$1.3 million extended by OFID

23/2008 June 20, Vienna, Austria
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The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved grant financing of US$1.3 million at its 123rd Session, which was held in Isfahan, the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 18. These latest grants, commented Director-General, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, would support a crucial health campaign and an initiative aimed at creating employment opportunities for women. These efforts are essential areas of intervention if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met before the “rapidly encroaching deadline of 2015.” OFID enjoys a longstanding partnership with the beneficiary organizations, added Mr. Al-Herbish, who was pleased to see that the cooperation “was getting stronger.”

A grant of US$1 million will support a polio eradication campaign in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The funds will assist the respective governments in carrying out immunizations among children living in the southern border area, where the transmission of an indigenous wild poliovirus has been reported. The program, which is being carried out by UNICEF, in cooperation with the World Health Organization, Rotary International and the Ministries of Health of the two countries, will target all children under five years of age. Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) will be administered on National and Sub-national Immunization Days and as well as during house-to-house visits carried out by trained volunteers. Various “mop up” campaigns will be conducted to insure full coverage among children in difficult-to-reach and politically unstable areas. Also envisaged are social mobilization initiatives to disseminate information among the public and rally governmental support.

A US$300,000 grant will support a project of the Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture (FPSC) to expand the Serrania Technical School for women in the Municipality of Jarabacoa and surrounding villages in the Dominican Republic. Currently, the facility provides low-income women with training in the areas of gastronomy, textiles and housekeeping with the aim of enabling them to obtain employment. The expansion will enable the school to accommodate a total of 820 women. Furniture, training materials and computer equipment will also be procured. Those who complete the program will receive assistance in seeking a job or setting up their own small businesses.

Since its inception, OFID has provided more than US$418 million in grant support, including funding for technical assistance, research, emergency assistance and food aid.