The International Islamic Relief Organization-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) has provided education to 31,699 boy and girl students in 23 countries, IIROSA secretary-general Adnan Khalil Basha told Arab News on August 14. He listed the countries as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Benin, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Mali, Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, Bulgaria and Macedonia.

He pointed out that the organization has contributed to the financing of the establishment and operation of 31 educational institutions consisting of schools, institutes, colleges and universities in these countries.

According to Basha, the IIROSA has built three institutes in Sudan's southern cities of Malakal, Juba, and Wau to provide education to 3,947 boy and girl students. In Kenya the organization has set up a college for the preparation of teachers to cover the shortage of teachers of Islamic education.

"Saudi philanthropists have played a significant role in financing the establishment of this college which is the only one of its kind in East Africa," he added.

Source: Arab News, Saudi Arabia, August 14, 2010