Press Release

OFID Board releases US$7.3 million in grant assistance to promote development

11/2009 March 12, 2009 Vienna, Austria
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The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved grant financing of US$7.3 million. The approval was given at the Board’s 126th Session held yesterday at OFID’s headquarters, Vienna, Austria.

A grant of US$3.5 million will co-finance an OFID/UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Partnership for Comprehensive Education Sector Responses to HIV/AIDS in East and Southern Africa. The project will support 17 countries in East and Southern Africa, regions severely affected by HIV/AIDS, to develop and implement comprehensive educational sector responses to the pandemic. Activities will be carried out over a two-year period via EDUCAIDS; a global partnership that was launched in 2004 as a UNAIDS initiative and led by UNESCO. Activities will include developing partnerships for joint action at regional and national levels; supporting intensified implementation at country levels; and, delivering high-quality technical support. The grant will be drawn from OFID’s Special Grant Account for HIV/AIDS Operations.

Another grant of US$2 million, which will be drawn from the same account, will support an OFID/IDLO (International Development Law Organization) Joint Program on Legal Reform to More Effectively Manage HIV/AIDS. The goal of the program is to strengthen the legal framework and institutional capacity of legal professionals to enable them take an active role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This will, in turn, help safeguard the rights of HIV-affected individuals, improve enforcement of laws consistent with public health goals and contribute to the global discussion of best practices relating to law and health. The beneficiary countries are China (selected regions), Benin, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Indonesia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea and Senegal.

A third grant of US$1.5 million will be drawn from the OFID Special Grant Account for Palestine to help improve the quality of life for Palestinians in Jerusalem. The project aims at improving the livelihoods of Palestinian citizens, while placing a special focus on youth in terms of boosting access to education and culture. Activities will revolve around four main components. These include providing support to the education sector by renovating schools and building new ones, as well as providing infrastructure, equipment and furnishings at two youth clubs and a sports playground. In addition, the Museum of Palestinian Heritage will be provided with extra equipment and furnishings. A historical hall in the Old City of Jerusalem will be restored and renovated, as will a bookstore that contains rare and valuable book collections. Finally, studies will be conducted to provide a documented record of property ownership in Jerusalem to protect Palestinians against the possibility of contested ownership or confiscation of property. The grant, which will be channeled through the Islamic Development Bank, will be co-financed with the Saudi Fund for Development the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development and the Al-Aqsa Fund.

Also approved at the Meeting was a US$300,000 grant in support of an initiative of the Foundation for the Social Promotion of Culture (FPSC) and its national Peruvian implementing partner, Condoray NGO. Both organizations have cooperated in development projects aimed at improving the socio-economic conditions of low-income women in Cañete Province, Peru. In 2005, Condoray established a Center for Business Training for Women to provide vocational training in areas such as food processing, handicrafts textiles, baking and pastry-making. OFID’s grant will also co-finance expansion of the Center through the addition of classrooms and workshops, as well as the purchase of new equipment and furniture. The Center’s expansion will allow for the accommodation of about 270 extra women.

Since its inception, OFID has provided more than US$436 million in grant support, including funding for technical assistance, research, emergency assistance and food aid.

Arabic version