RIYADH — Alwaleed Philanthropies, chaired by Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, has announced the signing of a MOU with Aljazirah Vehicles Agencies, the dealer of Ford and Lincoln cars in the Kingdom, to distribute 7,000 cars among beneficiaries at the rate of 1,000 cars a year.

This partnership initiative will add to the housing and car grants project that Alwaleed Philanthropies began in 2015 and will extend to 10 years.

Alwaleed Philanthropies has committed to distribute 10,000 housing units and 10,000 cars to the needy throughout the Kingdom under the initiative. Moreover, it was agreed to provide 200 additional cars with special specifications and equipment suitable to transport the people with disabilities.

In line with Prince Alwaleed's belief in Saudi Vision 2030, the initiative has emerged to empower women and youth through securing jobs that will have a great impact on the local economy.

Human resource development is one of the most important objectives of Vision 2030, and therefore an initiative has been agreed to train 100 young men and women in cars and mechanical work. This was in addition to financing and supporting small car projects for distinguished young people.

The signing was in the presence of Princess Lamia Al-Saud, secretary-general of Alwaleed Philanthropies; Amal Al-Kathiri, executive director of national initiatives at the charity; Mohammed Al-Kradees, Deputy CEO of Aljazirah Vehicles Agencies; and Abdullah Alobthani, director of the government sales department.

For over 4 decades, Alwaleed Philanthropies has supported and spent more than $4 billion on social welfare, and initiated more than 1,000 projects in over 164 countries. Managed by 10 Saudi female members, the projects' beneficiaries included more than 533 million beneficiaries around the world, regardless of gender, race and religion.

Alwaleed Philanthropies collaborates with a range of philanthropic, governmental, and educational organizations to combat poverty, empower women and youth, develop communities, provide disaster relief and create cultural understanding through education. It seeks to build bridges for a more compassionate, tolerant and accepting world, according to a press release. — SG