KSrelief Chief Urges Global Shift from Emergency Aid to Lasting Recovery in Fragile Markets

RIYADH: Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, supervisor-general of the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, recently joined a virtual panel discussion on ambition for fragile and frontier markets held during the World Economic Forum in Brussels, Belgium.

Al-Rabeeah said Saudi Arabia has provided more than $145 billion in humanitarian assistance to 175 countries. Through KSrelief, the Kingdom has implemented over 4,000 relief projects across 113 countries, valued at more than $8.5 billion, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

He called for a shift in how the world views fragile and frontier markets, urging stakeholders to move beyond seeing them as regions of perpetual dependency and instead recognize their potential to drive locally led economic growth and long-term resilience.

Al-Rabeeah outlined three strategic priorities to support this transition. First, he stressed the need for safe, sustained, and unimpeded humanitarian access, emphasizing that international humanitarian law must be upheld and relief workers protected. He noted that sustainable economic activity and recovery are impossible without secure access.

Second, he advocated for a principled, risk-sensitive approach to localizing relief efforts. Such models, he said, should empower local actors without increasing vulnerabilities or placing additional burdens on recipient communities.

Third, he called for catalytic, multisectoral financing to close widening funding gaps. Pointing out that grants alone cannot meet growing needs, he urged the use of blended finance, public-private risk-sharing mechanisms, and private capital to stimulate investment in high-risk frontier markets.

Al-Rabeeah emphasized the urgency of coordinating international efforts to move from emergency relief to lasting recovery, transforming fragile and frontier markets into self-sustaining economies that preserve human dignity.

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