Saudi charity drive grosses SR1.8b in a week
King Salman, Crown Prince donate SR50m for 2nd edition of Ehsan
Cairo: A Saudi state-sponsored charity campaign has collected over SR1.8 billion in the first week of its second year, local media reported.
Earlier this week, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz and Crown Prince Mohammad launched the second edition of Ihsan (charity) donating a total of SR50 million.
The donations raised by the national charity campaign are channeled into various charitable works including health, housing and education.
The Ehsan campaign made its debut in April last year, triggering an inflow of donations from public figures, corporations and individuals in the kingdom.
Ehsan is organised by the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) that Prince Mohammed heads.
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.
The platform is overseen by a committee comprising SDAIA, the Saudi ministries of interior, financing, health, education, human resources, justice, municipal and village affairs, and housing as well as the Saudi central bank.
Donations are received via the platform app, a call centre and short text messages.