Saudi charity drive raises SR1.8 billion in Ramadan

Cairo: A Saudi state-sponsored charity campaign has raised more than SR1.8 billion in donations during this past Ramadan, according to official figures.

The tally was collected through more than 19 million donation operations conducted during the lunar month that ended in the kingdom on March 30, the National Platform for Charitable Work Ehsan said.
Last month, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammed launched the fifth edition of the Ehsan campaign with a combined donation of SR70 million.

During the month of Ramadan, the Ehsan operations centre witnessed the signing of a slew of agreements aimed at supporting the campaign by enhancing integration between the private sector and the Ehsan platform.
The agreements have had an impact in promoting the culture of donation and social solidarity to support the platform’s work in various charitable fields.
Inaugurated in mid-April 2021, Ehsan receives donations that benefit a wide range of charitable works including health, social, food, housing, and education according to high and transparent governance that ascertains swift processing of the donations and delivering them to those who deserve them as quickly as possible.

The platform is an integrated portal aimed to manage donations in the kingdom. It is designed to invest data and artificial intelligence to maximise impact of development projects and services by providing advanced technological solutions and building an effective system through partnerships with governmental and non-profit private sectors.
Donors have easy access methods to the portal including via the smartphone.

The benefactors have the option to specify the sector into which they want their money to be channeled.