Here’s a sobering piece from Gulf News. As many as 30% of Saudis live in poverty, according to researchers at King Saud University in Riyadh. The Saudis draw the line to define poverty at the monthly income of SR 1,500 (US $400.00). Many Saudis are having to cope with even less. So far, government efforts to fix the problem haven’t been working, say the researchers. Missing parts of the solution include education to permit entry into well-paying jobs. Another is the lack of educational efforts to inform the poor of how they can help themselves with wise spending decisions.

The story provides a very different look at Saudi Arabia than the stereotype of ‘rich Saudis’.

Education key to tackling problem of Saudi poverty
Duraid Al Baik, Associate Editor

Dubai: No government in the world can eradicate poverty because part of the problem stems from behavioural and social attitudes, according to Dr Hatoon Al Fasi, assistant professor at the King Saud University, who made her comments on a documentary bout poverty in Saudi Arabia broadcast on the internet.

However, she also stressed that there are no excuses for a government like that of Saudi Arabia, which witnesses the problem of poverty increasing in its own nation, while it maintains a position as one of the world’s top world donors when compared to its Gross Domestic Production (GDP).

Saudi Arabia spends more than 4 per cent of its total GDP annually on donations and humanitarian aid that reaches people in more than 110 countries around the globe. At the same time, nearly 30 per cent of its own nationals suffer from poverty.

The UN recommends that rich countries should donate a minimum of 0.07 per cent of their GDP for aid and humanitarian projects, which many industrial countries around the world fail to manage, while Saudi Arabia is exceeding the minimum ceiling by 600 per cent.
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