Education, seen as an egalitarian right, is one of the main recipients of Saudi development assistance.

Saudi government employees and private businessmen alike all seem to have one thing in common: they view their work as a responsibility, a way of paying back their country for the education opportunities or commercial success they have experienced.

As a consequence of this collective state of mind, both the government and the private sector play a large role in the continued development of society, and are generous to a fault in providing assistance of all kinds where it is most needed, at home and abroad.

Abroad is the key word for the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), an institution established to provide financial assistance, mainly in the form of soft loans, for projects in developing countries. Between 1975 and 2004, the SFD agreed 379 loans to finance 369 developmental projects and economic programs, to a total of SR24.8 billion ($6.6 billion). The main areas of investment are education, health and infrastructure. “The fund comprises a number of societies and organizations with diverse objectives that, as a whole, seek development in all societies,” says Yousef I. Al-Bassam, the SFD Vice-Chairman and Managing Director.

Working with utmost transparency and to equally high standards anywhere in the world, the fund harmonizes its efforts with other major funding organizations such as the World Bank or the Arab Fund. Recently, the SFD was also charged with providing financing and insurance services to increase Saudi non-oil exports. The Saudi Expo program, as it is known, provides utilities, materials, expertise, and consultation and assessment services according to recipients’ needs.

While there is little knowledge in the West regarding women’s role in Saudi Arabian society, one undeniable fact is that women outstrip men in universities and other higher education institutions. Saudi Arabia’s educated women are no less than their male counterparts, and commitment to social development is also one of their strongholds.

Princess Sara Bint Talal bin Abdulaziz is, among other things, the Chairwoman of the Down Syndrome Charity Association (DSCA). Established in 1998, the DSCA raises public awareness about the disabled and their needs as well as their rights. “We must make them a part of the community,” says the princess. “Taking care of other people and each other is one of the main aspects of Islam.” There are 20,000 cases of down syndrome in the kingdom, a figure that increases by 1,000 each year. One of the aims of the organization is to set up a vocational center and a rehabilitation-training center in Riyadh for female staff, but mainly, DSCA’s head would like to gain recognition for the organization and its endeavors among the international community.