NNA – With the generous hosting of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Donors' Conference to Support Displaced Persons and Refugees in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin will be held at the headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah, on 26 October 2024, in coordination with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

It is worth noting that the conference is being held within the framework of implementing the decision of the 49th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is expected to address the opening session of the conference, alongside the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Taha.

The conference will witness a high-level session on the challenges of the humanitarian situation in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, with the participation of a number of prominent speakers, including Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, Advisor at the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Supervisor of the King Salman Center, Ms. Joyce Musaya, Deputy Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator at the United Nations, Mr. Raouf Mazou, Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ms. Zubaida Abubakar Omar, Director General of the Emergency Management Agency in Nigeria, in addition to a representative of the European Union.

It is worth noting that the conference aims to achieve a number of objectives, the most important of which are raising awareness of the displacement and asylum crisis in the Sahel and Lake Chad region, and mobilizing financial resources for the immediate humanitarian response to this crisis and any future challenges in this important part of the African continent.

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