Jeddah- 29 March 2011- The president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Ali, announced today that the Board of Executive Directors (BED) of the IDB has approved a grant of US$500,000 to provide urgent medical aid assistance to the people affected by the current crisis in Libya.
Meanwhile, an IDB mission will depart tomorrow Wednesday to Egypt where coordination with Egyptian Red Crescent will be made to deliver the urgent medical aid. The same mission was also in Egypt last month after the BED approved a grant of US$200,000 for an emergency medical aid to the people affected by the crisis in Libya. The delivery of aid was coordinated with the Egyptian Red Crescent.
It is worth mentioning that the IDB Board of Executive Directors has recently stressed the importance of speeding up the implementation of the IDB projects and programs aimed at alleviating unemployment, and providing employment opportunities for youth through the establishment of small and medium projects in a number of Arab countries that have recently experienced change.
Within this framework, the IDB Board decided to allocate an amount of US$ (250) million to enable those countries to support investments aimed at alleviating poverty, and creating new employment opportunities for youth.
This assistance will enhance building institutional capacity of those countries either by supporting training programs that meets labor market needs, or by supporting Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), vocational training, and lines of financing for small and medium enterprises.