Sustainable Development

1.No Poverty

The Kingdom’s efforts to eradicate poverty exist within and beyond its borders. These efforts stem from a sense of moral and humane responsibility and manifest in the Kingdom’s humanitarian assistance to the world’s developing nations, the ones that are most often stricken with poverty, as well as to international organizations battling poverty, in addition to its internal efforts to develop the social services system to be more efficient and fairer and to facilitate access to it. The social protection system in the Kingdom is based on supporting the social security system and encouraging institutions and individuals to contribute to charitable work. This system contains three components under which there are several programs and initiatives:

• Social insurance program includes cooperative health insurance, retirement, and unemployment insurance system - SANED.
• Social safety nets: These include government support (food, fuel, electricity, and water support), the Citizen’s Account program, the housing support program, educational programs, residential care programs, and care programs for people with special needs.
• Support programs for the labor market, including wages protection program, employment support Program, and job seeker subsidy program.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Initiatives for Combating Poverty

• Ministry of Municipal, Rural Affairs and Housing initiatives aimed at helping citizens find suitable homes.
• The Citizen Account Initiative designed to protect Saudi families from the direct and indirect impact expected from various economic reforms, which may cause additional burdens on certain segments of society.
• The Social Security System supports unassisted families, orphans, those unable to work, and other beneficiaries of the social security system.
• Charity organizations, under the supervision of the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development.
• People with special needs: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia pays special attention to people with special needs. In Saudi Vision 2030, there is a strategic goal to enable people with special needs to obtain suitable job opportunities and education that guarantees their independence and integration as active agents in society.
• Supporting international institutions and organizations such as:

  • Aid and relief projects foreign provided by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
  • United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
  • United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
  • Arab Gulf Program for United Nations Development Organizations.
  • United Nations Children's Fund.

2.Zero Hunger

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the largest contributors to programs for eradicating hunger. The Kingdom’s efforts center around achieving food security both internally and beyond its borders, in addition to striving for the Kingdom’s agricultural sector to contribute a larger percentage of its GDP, thereby aiding economic development, and diversifying the Kingdom’s agricultural base. 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for eradicating hunger

• Gaudi Grains Organization (SAGO)’s initiative is to reduce food loss and waste in the Kingdom and to prevent improper use of natural resources.
• The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture’s initiative to eradicate the red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) and combat its spread the world over.

• The Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture’s initiatives to provide comprehensive and sustainable food security by:

  • Terracing and rehabilitation of agricultural lands, instating water harvesting technology in Al Taif, Al Bahah, Asir, and Jazan provinces.
  • Reducing per capita retail and consumer food waste by half, and reducing food losses in the production and supply phases, including post-harvest losses.
  • To develop and improve the efficiency of the agricultural market and to adopt measures to ensure the safe and timely delivery of commodities and their derivatives and to strengthen food reserves to reduce their volatility.
• Activating the role of international partnerships, based on the awareness of the ecological and geographic nature and the creation of optimal sources for food supply, the Kingdom has directed foreign agricultural investment through strategic partnerships with other countries and in a way that achieves the benefit of all local authorities and societies.
• Saudi Food Bank (Eta’am), has provided more than 12 million meals since its inception.
• Executing over 300 food security projects, resulting in millions fed through the efforts of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
• The historic contribution of USD 500 million to the World Food Program in 2008.

For more details on eradicating hunger, visit Social Protection page.
 

3.Good Health and Well-Being

The Kingdom strives to boost general health for its citizens and residents, by launching several initiatives in the health sector at the local and global levels, including but limited to supporting maternal and childcare programs, providing vaccinations, reducing infant mortality and increasing life expectancy.

Initiatives of Saudi Arabia to ensure a decent life and good health for all

• Implementing over 200 projects in the health sector through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.

• Providing support to international organizations pertaining to the health sector, such as:

  • World Health Organization.
  • Arab Organization for the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
  • Doctors without Borders.
• Establishing over 80 primary health care centers for a total of 2,390 centers throughout the Kingdom.
• Inaugurating 36 hospitals and two new medical cities.
• Imposing compulsory health insurance on residents and visitors.
• Providing free healthcare services to pilgrims.
• The new national pathway for healthcare services for pregnant women (the safe birth pathway) includes three stages (pre-pregnancy care, pregnancy care, and postpartum care) under the supervision of health professionals, believing in the who believe importance of participating in reducing the global mortality rate to less than 70 per 100,000 enfants by 2030.
• Reducing hereditary diseases: by performing Premarital Screening, in addition to the provision of health care for pregnant women and the care of newborns, and the Kingdom monitors children under the age of five by conducting periodic checkups and vaccinations, in order to reduce the number of deaths to less than 25 deaths per 1,000 children.
• National Research Centers: The Kingdom provides these centers with the latest laboratory techniques for examining and monitoring infectious diseases, in order to follow up on infectious and non-communicable diseases and epidemics and ways to combat them and limit their spread. The Kingdom has also established several specialized rehabilitation centers for some infectious diseases.
• Several initiatives related to heart disease, vascular disease, diabetes, respiratory diseases, and obesity aim to spread awareness of the dangers of these diseases and bad habits that cause them, in addition to the health practices to prevent them and reduce their risks.
• Nutritional health awareness: restaurants, food suppliers, and manufacturers have been obligated to highlight the amount the size of the nutrients in the product, in order to enable consumers to know their components and nutritional value, in addition to increased duties on food products that are harmful to health.
• The National Drug Prevention Committee (Nebras).

For more details on Good health and well-Being, visit the Health Care page.
 

4.Quality Education

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gives the educational sector special importance, with it receiving the largest portion of the Kingdom’s budget. The Kingdom also engages its efforts to improve education the world over, affirming its local, regional, and international commitment to the right of education for all as a cornerstone of development worldwide.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiatives to achieve quality education

• Establishing a care and communication center through which all beneficiaries of the services of the Ministry of Education are enabled to use all modern electronic means of communication.
• Optional health insurance for education employees.
• Teacher Services Center, that provides various services for teachers and their families.
• The Independent Schools Initiative: public schools managed by specific companies and small educational institutions to raise the quality of education in the school through performance indicators and qualitative measures.
• Program for measuring the educational performance of primary education students (Hassen), which is a series of measures taken to analyze and develop the educational process.
• Neighborhood clubs initiative, which are specialized community clubs that are equipped and prepared within public schools that contribute to the development of skills and hobbies.
• Irtiqa initiative, which works to enhance family participation in the educational process, in addition to empowering society in general to support partnerships to reach a knowledge society.
• Project (Families) Operating school cafeterias through productive families in order to support these families and provide healthy meals for students.
• A project to develop education statistics and build databases for graduates and scientific research data.
• Implementing over 60 projects in the education sector through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
• Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education for the provision of educational aid and supporting research programs.
• Initiatives of the Ministry of Education to raise the quality of education:
• The Safeer Program.

  • The Summer Literacy Program for remote areas of the Kingdom.
• Prince Sultan Center for Special Education Support Services.

  • Independent Schools Initiative, through the transformation of 25 public schools to be operated by the private sector.
  • Lifetime Learning Initiative.

For more details on quality education, visit Education and Training page.

5.Gender Equality

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia affirms the vital importance of the role women play in development, and endevours to invest her energies and activating her essential role at the local and international levels. Moreover, as part of the Kingdom’s strategic Vision 2030, women have been set a comprehensive goal for increasing their contribution to the labour market, retaining her rights in the health and education sectors, in unison with the fifth goal of the sustainable development goals.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for promoting gender equality and women empowerment

• Women assume many leadership positions and are allocated 20% of Shura Council seats.
• Creating more than 450,000 new jobs for women.
• Establish the National Women's Observatory as part of the Kingdom's efforts to create ways to participate in advancing national development. A number of initiatives have been launched, directly and indirectly, at empowering women in various fields. Among the most important of these initiatives:

  • An electronic platform that allows women looking for jobs to register and learn about the qualification mechanism in all regions of the Kingdom.
  • Developing productivity projects for families eligible for social insurance who are able to work to increase their sales.
  • Launch of support programs for working women: Wusool and Qurra.
  • Developing mechanisms that enable women from vulnerable groups to benefit from rehabilitation programs that end with employment and remote work.
  • Launching a training program (Doroob) which aims to provide professional support to needy groups of women and orphans to allow them to obtain the required skills and competence to enter the workplace and for future development.
  • Providing childcare services at affordable prices for working women.

For more details on gender equality, visit Women Empowerment page
 

6.Clean Water and Sanitation

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made significant investments in water desalination and sanitation, and is witnessing remarkable progress in its ongoing government support. Water and wastewater projects are working rapidly to achieve sustainable environmental development in line with National Transition 2020 and Vision 2030. The Kingdom is also the world leader in desalinated water production with 16.5% of world production.

Initiatives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to produce clean water and ensure general sanitation

• Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Water.
• Implementation of 508 water dams with combined storage capacity of 2.2 billion cubic meters.
• The initiative to promote the sources of surface water by establishing 1,000 dams.
• The National Program for Aquaculture aimed at developing the fisheries sector in the Kingdom.

For more details on clean water and sanitation, visit Environmental Protection page
 

7.Affordable and Clean Energy

The Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been keen to draw up a vision for an economy less dependent on oil. This is confirmed by the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 through diversification of energy sources such as renewable and alternative energy by producing 5.3 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2020 and producing 5.9 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives to promote clean and affordable energy

• The National Renewable Energy Program: The Kingdom has launched several projects and initiatives within this program, which are:

  • Advanced Cooling Challenge Campaign.
  • Innovation Initiative.
  • King Salman Renewable Energy Initiative.
  • The Kingdom's accession to climate change agreements.
  • The National Committee for the Clean Development Mechanism.
  • The National Renewable Energy Program.
  • Saudi Energy Efficiency Center.
  • The leading forum for carbon capture and storage.
  • Wind farm project in Skaka.
  • King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy.
• Initiative to increase energy efficiency in the iron, cement and petrochemical industries.

• Transport sector initiatives:

  • An initiative to determine the requirements for selling new cars in the local market.
  • An initiative to develop energy efficiency standards for tires.
  • Apply fuel economy card to light vehicles and adopt fuel economy standard.
• Buildings Sector Initiatives:

  • Saudi Building Code (Energy Efficiency).
  • Project of energy density certificate for existing and new buildings.
  • The initiative to rehabilitate government buildings and stimulate the private sector to invest in the energy efficiency services sector.
  • The initiative to rehabilitate government buildings and stimulate the private sector to invest in the energy efficiency sector.
  • High Efficiency Air Conditioning Initiative.

For more details on clean and affordable energy, visit Power and Electricity page.
 

8.Decent Work and Economic Growth

Saudi Arabia enjoys a strong and strong economy due to its unique geographic location, which provides easy access to export markets. The Kingdom is ranked first in the world in oil reserves, production and export, with 25% of total world oil reserves. The Kingdom’s Vision 2030 counts attracting international talent as one of its main goals, as part of the overall plan to grow the economy.

Saudi Arabia's initiatives on creating adequate jobs and achieving economic growth

• Localization of technologies and knowledge through the Public Investment Fund through which the Kingdom seeks to increase GDP at a steady pace, diversify sources of income, preserve major Saudi companies, create new investment opportunities, raise the level of innovation and technology, create job opportunities for young people, and raise the level of productivity, Entering and developing major government projects, promoting and developing tourism, and supporting small and medium enterprises.
• Increasing the contribution of small and medium businesses to the economy.
• Increase women's participation in the workplace.
• Reduce the duration of obtaining a Commercial Register to 180 seconds.
• Expanding vocational training to continue to meet workplace needs.
• Establishing a national platform for volunteering and enhancing awareness of the importance of volunteer work. The Ministry aims to increase the number of volunteers in the Kingdom to reach 300 thousand volunteers by the year 2020.
• Increase qualitative foreign investments to SAR 20 billion Saudi.
• Launching the National Program for the Development of Crafts and Handicrafts (Bare'a).
• Digital transformation and economic growth initiatives:

  • The Digital Transformation Unit: It is concerned with building a digital society, a digital economy, and a digital nation in a manner that ensures the transformation into a digital society based on creating digital platforms to enrich effective community interaction and participation in a way that contributes to improving the citizen, expatriate, tourist and investor experience in Saudi Arabia.
  • Digital Government Authority: It is the authority concerned with everything related to digital government and it is the national reference in its affairs. It aims to regulate the work of digital government in government agencies, in order to reach a digital and proactive government capable of providing highly efficient digital services, and achieving integration in the field of digital government among all government agencies.

For more details on Decent work and economic growth, visit Labor and Employment page
 

• Creating Investment Packages and Models with Social Impact

This initiative develops regulatory frameworks and facilities to attract private and non-profit capital to maximize philanthropic capital; This contributes to higher non-oil GDP and higher added value, and the initiative supports social investment by charities and social organizations, enabling them to find adequate and recoverable funding; to meet their capital needs and to increase the positive impact on society, taking into account their needs and priorities.

9.INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed remarkable progress in the pursuit of its Vision 2030 goals, which include a number of initiatives related to the maintenance and operation of various infrastructure projects in partnership with the private sector, and strengthening the Kingdom's connection to population centers and commercial and industrial value chains by increasing the performance of the logistics sector and increasing competitiveness and quality overall.

Saudi Arabia's initiatives for industry, innovation and infrastructure

• The National Innovation Initiative has a comprehensive scope for the entire innovation system and identifies areas of national importance that are focused on in the system.
• The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques inaugurated the first Saudi-made car (Gazelle 1).
• Prince Mohammed bin Salman inaugurates the first "Hawk" trainer jet plane, which has been collected and manufactured some of its parts locally.
• The launch of the industrial clusters initiative aimed at creating a new industrial structure in Saudi Arabia.
• Budget allocation of more than 54 billion Saudi Riyals for 2018.
• Construction of roads totaling more than 14,000 km.
• The Public Transport Project in Riyadh has a maximum capacity of 5.4 million passengers per day.
• Investment of more than SAR 400 billion in transport infrastructure over the last 10 years.
• Spending more than SAR 500 million on scientific research.

For more details on industry, innovation and infrastructure, visit Industry and Mineral Resources page.
 

10.REDUCED INEQUALITIES

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has an exceptionally keen stance on equality and justice. The Basic Law of 1412H states the importance the strengthening of national unity and the prevention of strife and division.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives towards combating inequality

• Establishing the Human Rights Council in 2005.
• The National Society for Human Rights aims to build a society of justice and equality according to the teaching of the tolerant Islamic Sharia, which calls for tolerance and the rejection of violence and extremism.
• The Kingdom’s nomination to the UN Human Right Council for the fourth time, for a three-year period.
• Providing programs that help citizens respond to common risks, such as Hafiz and Saned.
• Provide training programs to develop the skills of job seekers.

For more details on reduced inequalities, visit Human Rights page.
 

11.SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible for the urban planning of the cities of the Kingdom, including the provision of roads and basic equipment, improvement and beautification of cities and the development of municipal and rural areas. In order to achieve sustainable urbanization of the Kingdom, a Royal Decree was issued whereby the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, in cooperation with UN-HABITAT, is implementing the "Future Saudi Cities" program. The program seeks to develop a new vision and strategic planning framework for the sustainable urban future in Saudi Arabia, Productive, equitable, socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable, with adequate infrastructure, adequate and high quality of life

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Initiatives for Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Updating the National Urban Strategy 2030 in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program.
• The NEOM Project.
• Providing safe and easy navigation through the development of transport systems.
• Improve the classification of the city of Riyadh globally to become one of the best 100 cities in the world.
• King Abdulaziz Project for Public Transport in Riyadh City.
• Development and rehabilitation of Wadi Hanifa. The initiative aims to manage the current and future water resources, and an environmental classification scheme that includes sustainable uses and management strategies to protect the ecosystems of the valley. It also includes a plan of land use that strikes a balance between preserving the environment and the needs of the city. This scheme won the Washington Water Prize for setting new global standards for sustainable development.

12.RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed significant growth in several areas, the most important of which is population growth and growth in the industrial and agricultural sectors. This creates difficulties and challenges in the process of waste management of all kinds. Waste, recycling, To the Kingdom, in addition to creating jobs and reducing the emissions of buried gases from landfills and converting them into energy.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Responsible Production and Consumption Initiatives

• Establishment of Saudi Paper and Waste Recycling Company.
• Integrated Waste Management Initiative in Jubail Industrial City.
• Comprehensive strategy for waste management in Riyadh.
• Development of municipal waste management systems.
• The initiative of limit food waste in cooperation with the Itaam Charitable Society.

13.CLIMATE ACTION

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been among the first few countries to recognize the dangers of natural disasters and has developed a set of related regulations, plans and procedures to protect lives and property from all-natural hazards.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for climate protection

• Initiatives of the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Water to develop meteorological observation systems for the safety of life, protection of property and reduction of harmful effects.
• The National Plan for Tackling Natural Disasters covers a range of potential scenarios, including heavy rainfall, rapid surface wind, destructive earthquakes and more.
• National Plan for Chemical and Bacterial Incidents,which covers the measures and procedures required for the occurrence of chemical or microbial events to control and limit their spread.
• The National Plan for Marine Disasters,the plan covers a range of measures and measures to address any potential disasters in the Kingdom's seas.
• Regulations for Evictions and Shelters cover these procedures, measures and responsibilities for eviction and shelter before disasters to protect civilians from vulnerability.
• National Environmental Strategy.

For more details on climate protection , visit Environmental Protection page.
 

14.LIFE BELOW WATER

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to support international and regional trends to protect the marine and ocean environment and to reduce the sources of marine pollution. It seeks to improve the marine environment for its importance in development and to enhance food security. The Kingdom adopts strategies and policies that reduce tampering or negligence in the maritime system, On the biodiversity of the Kingdom in 2005 aimed at ensuring the conservation and development of biodiversity, including plans to study the current status of biodiversity and the threats it faces and ways to preserve and develop it.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives to preserve marine life

• Fisheries Research Center.
• Faculty of Marine Sciences, King Abdulaziz University.
• Saudi Aquaculture Society.
• King Faisal University Fisheries Research Center.
• Red Sea Research Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

For more details on preserve marine life, visit Environmental Protection page.
 

15.LIFE ON LAND

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 prominently includes a number of objectives to achieve the fifteenth goal of sustainable development. The Government of the Kingdom has also issued regulations to protect protected areas of wildlife and plants. It regulates hunting for wild animals and birds, trafficking in endangered species.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for preserving wildlife

• Saudi Arabia Award for Environmental Management.
• "Tree for Every Building" initiative.
• Establishment of a seed bank.
• Development of the province of Ola and the Forsan Islands.
• Sustainable development and management of rangelands and forests and combating desertification.
• National Program for Environmental Awareness and Sustainable Development.

For more details on preserving wildlife, visit Environmental Protection page.
 

16.PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seeks to strengthen its position at the regional and international levels by combating corruption in various fields and combating all forms of violence and abuse, especially violence against children.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives encouraging peace, justice, and established institutions

• Anti-Corruption Committee chaired by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
• Strategic Center for Crime Research.
• Digital Strategy of the National Information Center.
• The National Center for Performance Measurement (Adaa).
• National Statistical Data Program "Masdar".
• Kingdom's ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Preparation of studies and strategies, the most important of which is the National Strategic Plan for Prevention and Response to Domestic Violence in the Saudi Society prepared by the Ministry of Human Resource and Social Development.

As part of the Saudi government, the Ministry of Justice performs its role in achieving sustainable development goals through several services, initiatives, and regulations that have directly impacted these goals:

17.PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE GOALS

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries in the world to provide humanitarian assistance and assistance to countries facing hardship. The Kingdom has provided humanitarian, developmental and charitable assistance from grants and soft loans to all countries without discrimination on the basis of color, religion or race.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiatives for Achieving Goals Through Partnership

• Saudi Arabia's contribution of USD 500 million to finance Yemen's humanitarian response plan for 2018.
• Has provided more than USD 1 billion in official development assistance to 40 countries since the establishment of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre.
• The Saudi Fund for Development, contributes to financing development projects in developing countries by granting loans to those countries.
• “Al Khair Al Raqami” digital charity platform contribute to fundraising towards sustainable development goals.
• Programs and initiatives offered by the Misk Charitable Association:

  • Multiple training and fellowship programs in more than 20 international universities.
  • “We Are All Online” in cooperation with Google.
  • “Saudi Codes” Initiatives.
  • “Misk Grand Challenges” initiative in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
  • Changing through global partnerships.

For more details on achieving goals through partnership, visit Private Sector Partnership page.