(WASHINGTON, DC) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia today donated $100 million to the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT) during a joint press conference at the U.N. headquarters with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Saudi Ambassador to the United States Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir and Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the U.N. Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi.

“This donation by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, is another bold demonstration of his ongoing commitment to combating terrorism around the world,” said Ambassador Al-Jubeir. “The goal is to help provide the tools, technologies and methods to confront and eliminate the threat of terrorism.”

Ambassador Al-Jubeir added, “Terrorism has no faith, no nationality, no ethnicity and no humanity. It is incumbent on the international community to work closely together to rid our world of this scourge.”

King Abdullah called for the establishment of an international center to combat terrorism more than 10 years ago out of his firm belief that terrorism can be most effectively fought when nations work closely together in all areas, including the sharing of information. In 2005, Saudi Arabia hosted the Counter-Terrorism International Conference in Riyadh where more than 55 countries participated and during which the proposal for the establishment of the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre was unanimously adopted. King Abdullah pledged $10 million to the United Nations to establish the Centre and, in 2011, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement with the U.N. to launch the UNCCT. Today, King Abdullah provided the Centre with a donation of $100 million to enhance its capabilities and effectiveness in helping countries combat terrorism.

King Abdullah hopes other nations will follow the Kingdom’s lead in supporting the Centre. 

Ambassador Al-Jubeir said, “It is the hope of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques that other countries that have the means will contribute to the UNCCT to enhance the efforts of the international community in fighting terrorism.”