MONTREUX — A Saudi delegation led by Dr. Aqeel bin Jamaan Al-Ghamdi, head of Saudi Arabia's Presidency team to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Donor Support Group and Assistant Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) for Planning and Development, participated on Thursday in the UN OCHA meeting in Montreux, Switzerland.

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, Deputy Director General, Head of Humanitarian Aid and SHA Division Manuel Bessler, and several representatives of international organizations, were present.

The meeting discussed the challenges of limited humanitarian and relief funding, specific rules and mechanisms, priorities in providing funding and resources to humanitarian cases that are most in need in protracted emergencies, and the importance of linking humanitarian and development needs to be more effective to achieve positive results that contribute to minimizing the need and avoiding risks as much as possible.

The meeting also touched on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse, how to develop means of protection from violations and attacks, and providing ways to enable people to express their opinions, report cases of exploitation and abuse of both sexes, and register complaints.

Saudi Arabia currently chairs the presidency of the group of donor countries to support the United Nations Office of Humanitarian Affairs during the period from July 2022 to June 2023. — SPA