By Celestine Okorie

The United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), announced the launch of their joint initiative’s newly formed advisory committee.

On April 23, 2020, UNRCO and ICD have signed a Letter of Understanding (LoU) to conduct a study on the potential of Awqaf in contributing to the achievement of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Programme (NTP) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in KSA.

Today UNRCO and ICD kicked off their first Advisory Committee meeting. The Advisory Committee will play a major role in supporting the direction of the research study as it includes distinguished sustainable Islamic financing leaders whose focus will be to shape and guide the paper while working closely with the chairpersons.

The Committee will be co-chaired by Ms. Nathalie Fustier, United Nations Resident Coordinator, and Dr. Mohammed Alyami, Director Development Effectiveness at ICD.

The chairpersons will oversee the overall process of the research, ensure proper direction to the Advisory Committee and the research consultants, and ensure access to resources.

The Advisory Committee members are:

* CEO King Khalid Foundation, H.H. Princess Nouf Al Saud

*G20 Development Working Group Chair, H.H. Princess Haifa Al-Mogrin

*Deputy Governor, General Authority for Awqaf,  Abdulrahman Alaqeel

*Acting Director General, IRTI, Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem

*Secretary General, CIBAFI, Dr. Abdelilah Belatik

*Dean of Islamic Economics Institute, King Abdulaziz University, Dr. Abdullah Turkistani

*General Manager for Strategy & Alignment, Ministry of Economy & Planning, Mr. Majid Al Asfoor

The UNRC, Ms. Nathalie Fustier commented: “It is our pleasure to welcome the Advisory Committee and we look forward to engaging with the members over the coming months. The Advisory Committee will be crucial to ensure that the research is solid and produces actionable recommendations.”

Dr. Mohammed Alyami, Director of Development Effectiveness stated: ”ICD is keen to work closely with UNRCO and the Advisory Committee members to conduct a referential research which will

increase the Awqaf potential in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; while also assisting in reinforcing the economies of ICD member countries to develop certain vital sectors of economy and support any humanitarian and social action deemed necessary”.