Credit: Augustine Sankoh, Strategic Communications Analyst MBSSE.
The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief) has provided grant of two million United State Dollars (USD) to Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE) to strengthen three priority areas of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Science Laboratories and Libraries nationwide.
The team from KSRelief headed by the Operation and Programs Affairs Advisor Dr. Mohamed H. Diab is in Freetown on a three days working visit (Wednesday 1st March – Friday 3rd March) to engage the MBSSE Leadership, and tour different schools in the country.
According to Dr. Diab, the working visit to Sierra Leone is to ensure that the three shortlisted priority areas are identified and the MBSSE leadership agree on how to allocate the funding and which of the three areas that should receive more funding.
He said MBSSE leadership should identify the kind of Science Laboratory equipment that is needed and can be used, noting that it does not make sense to have laboratory equipment that can be locked in the store.
He calls on the Ministry to identify the focal person in the Ministry that they will be working with to ensure that they deliver on their targets.
Speaking about KSRelief, he said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has taken on a pioneering humanitarian role in serving the international community around the world, adding that the Kingdom realizes the significance of this role in alleviating human suffering and ensuring that all people are given the opportunity to live healthy, dignified lives.
“The leadership of Saudi Arabia established the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre. The purpose of this important international organization is to provide humanitarian aid and relief to those in need outside of the Kingdom’s borders. The activities of the center were inaugurated in May of 2015 under the high patronage and guidance of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, may God support him,” he said.
He said programs are chosen based upon the eligibility of targeted recipients in selected geographical areas, noting that the aid includes all humanitarian and relief sectors (Relief Security, Camps Management, Shelter, Early Recovery, Protection, Education, Water and Sanitation, Nutrition, Health, Humanitarian and Emergency Relief Coordination, Logistics and Emergency Telecommunication).
The Deputy Minister ll of Basic and Senior Secondary Education Madam Mamusu Massaquoi welcomed the visiting team and commended KSRelief for their continual support to Sierra Leone.
She said the MBSSE is happy that they are given the free hand to decide on their priorities and how the cash can be distributed. She said according to data, the MBSSE has already identified areas that need WASH facilities the most, adding that with regards the science laboratories, the MBSSE considers equipping community laboratories that can be accessed by different schools at different times.
It could be recalled that Sierra Leone’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Professor David J. Francis in January 2022 visited Riyadh and held a successful meeting with the Advisor at the Royal Court and Supervisor-General of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief), Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al Rabeeah.
During the meeting, facilitated by Ambassador Dr. Ibrahim Jalloh of the Sierra Leone Embassy in Saudi Arabia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor David J. Francis requested the KSRelief to support the MBSSE’s School Feeding Programme (SFP). establish Science Laboratories and Libraries across the country.
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