Swedish King and Saudi Prince Present Donation for Scout Foundation

HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden and HH Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Mohammed of Saudi Arabia attended the World Scout Foundation meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, on Friday May 8th.

Here, the King of Sweden, who is the Honorary Chairman of the foundation, and Prince Faisal, the Saudi Minister for Education and President of the Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association, announced the $US3,000,000 donation to the Foundation’s peace initiative from the Saudi government.

The peace initiative aims to produce projects which emphasize education, understanding, tolerance and respect for others in young people of all faiths, nationalities and cultures.

It falls under the Gifts for Peace program, which is the WSF’s key centennial project. Gifts for Peace is currently in place in 110 scouting nations, with each nation’s scouts undertaking various projects as part of the program. Scouts in Saudi Arabia, for example, are working to develop inter-cultural and inter-religious understanding.

Gifts for Peace was implemented by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz in November 2001, at a scouting conference in Riyadh. The donation presented last week brings the total amount donated to Gifts for Peace from the Saudi Kingdom to approximately $US7,000,000. Both King Carl Gustaf and Prince Faisal praised King Abdullah’s contributions to the program.

“King Abdullah is committed to peace, and his initiatives – including the Arab Peace Plan, the Interfaith Dialogue Initiative and Gifts for Peace – aim to bring people together in peace,” Prince Faisal said. Carl Gustaf talked of the “fantastic job of reaching out” done by Gifts for Peace, “which His Majesty so kindly initiated a few years ago.”

The day after, May 9th, the royal pair attended a pancake breakfast with the Boy Scouts of America at Boston’s Fan Pier. They later attended the Volvo Ocean Race.

Click here to see more pictures of the Swedish King in Boston.

Filed under Saudi Arabia, Sweden
Tagged Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, Donations, Patronage, Prince Faisal bin Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Scouting, United States of America.