Arab News, Sat, Apr 06, 2024 | Ramadan 27, 1445
Saudi non-profit sector registers 1.4% rise in boost to Vision 2030 goals
Saudi Arabia:
Non-profit organizations in Saudi Arabia grew by 72 in March, as the sector
recorded a 1.4 percent rise over the month.
Official figures released by the National Center
for Non-Profit Sector Development showed the number of bodies registered in this
sphere now stands at 4,721 – a 182 percent rise from 2018.
March saw the creation of 57 civil associations,
seven civil society organizations, and eight family funds across the Kingdom,
according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency.
The non-profit sector is a key part of the
Kingdom’s Vision 2030 economic diversification initiative, and in June Minister
of Human Resources and Social Development Ahmed Al-Rajhi lauded the
organizations for creating “sustainable impacts” and implementing “many
outstanding projects.”
The SPA report highlighting the latest increase
said the National Center “noted the continuous growth witnessed by the
non-profit sector, at the level of non-profit organizations, the number of
volunteers, and the increase witnessed in the number of technically supervised
units in government agencies.”
The release added; “The Center points to the
progress achieved through the cooperation of all parties of the non-profit
sector system, and the observed development in the governance of non-profit
organizations.
“In 2023, it achieved advanced levels of
governance, which confirms the sector organizations’ commitment to compliance
according to the targeted development roles.”
According to SPA, the Center also announced the
issuance of decisions against a number of non-profit organizations and
individuals, including four warnings against civil society organizations, four
dismissal decisions for the boards of directors of civil society organizations,
and a decision to exclude an employee of a civil society organization from
working in the sector for a temporary period.
In February, the minister of human resources and
social development used a speech at the Second Annual Forum for Non-Governmental
Organizations in Riyadh to highlight how well bodies in the sector are run.
“There has been an increase in the satisfaction
rate of beneficiaries of services of non-profit organizations reaching 86
percent, exceeding the target for the year 2025,” said Al-Rajhi at the time,
adding that there are more than 800,000 volunteers in the sector, with
government contracts awarded to non-profit sector organizations valued at SR6
billion ($1.6 billion) since 2018.