Endowments enhance role in community, economic development : Report


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Yemen News Agency SABA
Endowments enhance role in community, economic development : Report
[23/ November/2024]
Sana'a - Saba:
Endowment money is no longer permissible or wasted, and the door to seizing it is no longer open as it was decades ago, rather, the endowment now has a hand that protects it, works to develop it and disposes of it according to what it was endowed for, and a tongue that demands the return of what was looted from it, corrects its conditions and spreads awareness of its importance.

Since the establishment of the General Authority for Endowments, the endowment has begun to regain its status and its goodness reaches its beneficiaries, as the authority has made strenuous efforts to change the negative image that has become entrenched in people's minds about it, and so that the members of society can touch the goodness of the endowed funds despite the difficulties and challenges it faces.

The efforts of the Authority would not have borne fruit without the support provided by the revolutionary leadership and the President of the Supreme Political Council to those efforts, until the endowment became an effective role, whether in the aspect of social and humanitarian solidarity or in the process of economic development and its acceleration.

Head of the General Authority for Endowments Sheikh Abdulmjeed al-Houthi explained that based on the directives of the revolutionary leadership represented by Sayyed Abdulmalik Badr al-Din al-Houthi and the directives of the President of the Supreme Political Council, the Authority implemented plans to protect the endowment money that is still in existence and was able to collect it and arrange its conditions, and follow up on correcting the endowment that is used by state institutions and recovering what is in the hands of the influential and those who have seized the endowment money and its properties.

He pointed out that the Authority has achieved many successes and accomplishments in a record period of time, whether in terms of recovering some of the endowment properties or correcting the conditions of others with government and private entities or in terms of their maintenance, development and spending according to what they were endowed for.

The head of the authority said "The authority's successes during the past three years can be summarized in its ability to recover three million, 565 thousand, and 715 bricks of endowment lands that were in the possession of others, as one million, 898 thousand, and 633 bricks that were seized by influential people and citizens were recovered, as well as the recovery of one million, 667 thousand, and 82 bricks by virtue of judicial rulings."

He pointed out that the authority has surveyed and collected data on endowment properties used by 68 government agencies distributed over seven thousand locations with a total area of one million, 569 thousand, and 169 bricks, as well as surveying and collecting data on one thousand, 680 bricks that were in the possession of the private sector.

Al-Houthi stated that 59 thousand, 599 documents that were held by others were recovered, including 37 thousand, 91 draft documents and 22 thousand, 508 manuscripts and ancient Qur’ans.

Regarding the lands on which investment projects or investment projects for endowments were built, the head of the authority explained that 20 projects built on an area of seven thousand and 751 bricks were restored.

For his part, authority's deputy for mosque affairs Dr. Abdullah Al-Qudami explained that the leader of the revolution's interest in the endowment did not come out of nowhere, but rather because of his awareness of the sanctity of the endowment and its importance in reviving peoples economically and socially.

He pointed out that the leader urged state institutions benefiting from the endowment money to hand it over or correct its conditions, indicating that some parties have handed over the endowment in their possession and corrected the conditions of what remains with them, which was positively reflected in the level of spending on endowment banks.

Dr. al-Qudami revealed that the total spending on endowment banks during the past three years amounted to 37 billion, 950 million and 241 thousand YER, considering this a large amount compared to what the state of endowment banks has been for decades.

Undersecretary of the Investment and Resources Development Sector Dr. Mohammed al-Somali explained that the Authority is making efforts to achieve the goals for which it was established, most notably correcting the negative societal culture towards endowment funds and properties, and reviving this tradition, which has caused many members of society to refrain from endowing their funds and properties due to vandalism, looting and robbery.

He stated that the qualitative leap achieved by the Authority within a short period of its establishment, whether in terms of recovering looted and usurped endowments and correcting their status with state institutions, or in protecting and developing them, or in spending funds according to the intentions of the donors, has contributed to restoring confidence among many members of society regarding the management of endowment funds and properties.

Dr. al-Somali pointed out that the Authority's leadership has adopted modern trends in managing endowment properties, represented in implementing endowment investment projects that help develop endowment funds and benefit members of society through the aid and assistance provided by the Authority according to the intentions of the donors.

He stated that the Authority has implemented seven endowment investment projects during the past three years, worth two billion, eight million and 922 thousand YER.

He pointed out that the Authority has created a database for available investment sites in the Capital Sana'a and the provinces and has identified investment opportunities for each site according to the priorities that the Authority wants to implement, indicating that the investment opportunities that have been identified amounted to two thousand and seven opportunities.

The General Authority for Endowments continues its efforts to make the endowment an effective tool in achieving community development and enhancing social cohesion and a basic pillar of the national economy and an important resource to support sustainable development projects.