Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has been at the forefront in providing support to several development and relief efforts in several countries in the region and beyond for a long time. Recently QFFD signed an agreement to cooperate with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) to develop the Gulf electricity interconnection system and connect it to the southern Iraq network.
The agreement is expected to contribute to cover part of the demand for electricity and improving the performance and stability of the electricity network in the Iraqi region. By setting up a transformer substation with a capacity of about 400KV in the Wafra area in Kuwait and connecting it to the Gulf electricity interconnection system to the Iraqi electricity network through Al Faw electricity transformer station in southern Iraq.
Director General of QFFD H E Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari said on the occasion: “Together, in partnership with the Gulf Cooperation Council Interconnection Authority, we seek to extend electricity to our brothers in Southern Iraq. As electricity support will play a fundamental and pivotal role in strengthening the vital basic sectors and supporting them to complete its work, such as the health sector, which will in turn provide health services to a large number of patients, in addition to strengthening the educational sector such as schools and universities. This initiative will have a pivotal role in the economic contribution and infrastructure development.”
The QFFD has been keen on extending a helping hand in wherever it sees a need for financial or developmental aid without any discrimination on the lines of ethnicity, religion or culture.Last month, QFFD had signed an agreement with the World Food Program (WFP) for a contribution of $10m supporting humanitarian operations to address critical food security needs. This was a continuation to fulfill the pledges of Qatar to finance basic resources worth $500m to support UN organisations announced during the 2018 Doha Forum.
In the same month, QFFD signed another agreement with International Organisation for Migration for $400,000 to support IOM operations globally. QFFD in cooperation with Qatar Red Crescent Society, extended help to flood victims in South Africa recently. The Fund had been supporting countries suffering from the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic too. In May this year, it sent medical aid, including liquid medical oxygen tank to Nepal to counter the pandemic outbreak there.
QFFD had provided funding to international eye care charity Orbis to launch the Qatar creating Vision initiative in Ethiopia. The effort was aimed at tackling the world’s leading cause of blindness, trachoma, while delivering over 300,000 services, including screenings, distributing antibiotics, providing spectacles and conduction surgeries.
