GCC chief confirms Gulf countries fourth largest humanitarian, aid donors globally

The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Al-Budaiwi confirmed on Friday that the GCC countries are the fourth largest donor to relief and humanitarian aid in the world, having provided USD 14 billion in official humanitarian aid between 2020 and 2025. A statement by the GCC General Secretariat said that the remarks came during a speech delivered by Al-Budaiwi at the Doha Forum for Peace and Development event, "A Common Path to Stability," on the sidelines of the high-level week of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Al-Budaiwi added that peace and development are two inseparable sides of the same coin, noting, "the absence of development makes peace fragile and fleeting, while the absence of peace makes development an impossible goal." He emphasized the GCC countries' belief in peace through dialogue and diplomacy. The GCC chief noted in this regard that GCC countries have been and continue to be at the forefront of humanitarian and reconstruction work, having provided approximately USD 14 billion in official humanitarian aid between 2020 and 2025, making them the fourth largest humanitarian donor globally. He added that the GCC countries ranked first among the countries of the Global South as the largest humanitarian donor, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for 2024, noting that the total contributions of the GCC countries last year amounted to USD 3.04 billion. Al-Budaiwi reviewed a number of centers, conferences, and aid provided by the GCC countries, including the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center's USD 25 million contribution to the World Food Program to support the most vulnerable groups in Yemen, and the UAE's USD 828 million in humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. He also noted that Kuwait hosted the Iraq Reconstruction Conference in 2018, where the GCC countries pledged billions of dollars to support reconstruction, in addition to the ongoing support for the Palestinian people through official channels and humanitarian organizations.