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OSAKA: Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Non-Profit Sector (NCNP) is expanding at a rapid pace with the number of registered NPOs surpassing 5,700 last year.

In a bid to capitalize on the situation and position Saudi Arabia as a global leader in the sector, the NCNP brought together leading voices from the Kingdom’s non-profit organizations (NPOs) for a high-profile panel discussion and for a separate U-Table meeting at the World Expo in Osaka.

NCNP hosted the panel session — The Future of Non-Profits — at the Saudi Pavilion to highlight how the Kingdom has advanced the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through non-profit entities.

The panel demonstrated the NCNP’s goal of activating the Kingdom’s SDGs through innovation, collaboration, and strategic partnerships.

The panel featured HRH Princess Luluah Bint Nawaf Al Saud, President of the Board at Mawaddah Association for Family Stability (MAFS), Reem Abukhayal, Media and PR Manager of Alwaleed Philanthropies, and Dr. Abdullah AlMuhanna, Vice President of Sector Empowerment at National Developmental Housing Foundation (Sakan).

NCNP’s International Communication lead, Alaa Alghamdi addressed the successful models and initiatives led by Saudi NPOs and the challenges and opportunities in scaling impact through innovation, partnerships, and sustainability.

“We were very excited to highlight how NCNP is building a sustainable future through non-profit innovation during our informative panel discussion,” Mishari Alturaif, GM of Government Outsourcing at NCNP, said.

“The Future of Non-Profits discussion underscores the ambitious efforts that NCNP is putting into supporting innovation across the local and global non-profit sector through constructive dialogue and engagement.”

NCNP also hosted a U-Table meeting with leading Saudi and international NPO’s that introduced NCNP and its international collaboration goals.

Participants from the Saudi nonprofit sector included Bunyan Charity, the National Developmental Housing Foundation (Sakan), Saudi Food Bank, and Alwdad Orphanage Care.

The participants exchanged best practices in non-profit governance and public-civil partnerships and identified areas for future collaboration aligned with national priorities and SDGS.

They also discussed the importance of shifting the mindset in the non-profit sector from one that focuses on charity to one of development, allowing for social innovation and entrepreneurship to support economic growth.

“At the U-Table, we had the opportunity to learn about how NCNP is partnering globally to advance non-profit solutions for a better world, solutions that support economic growth and innovation,” Sadakazu Ikawa, co-founder and Executive Director at the Trust Based Philanthropy Japan and Manager at the AVPN.

“We look forward to working with NCNP to activate solutions that help achieve sustainable development worldwide.”

In Osaka, the NCNP team also met with the Japan Foundation to explore opportunities for collaboration with Japanese entities and to exchange international expertise and best practices in the non-profit sector.

Under NCNP’s leadership, Saudi Arabia’s non-profit ecosystem has expanded rapidly. The number of registered NPOs surpassed 5,700 last year, with over 6,000 fundraising licenses issued and more than 2,000 active civil associations. Volunteerism has surged from just under 23,000 in 2015 to 1.2 million in 2024.

Thirty government entities now contribute to non-profit development, showing their rising national importance. Thus, NCNP continues to serve as the Kingdom’s catalyst for non-profit growth, linking local action with global collaboration to unlock sustainable impact.

LONDON: Britain sought a firm commitment Thursday from Germany to change its law to help smash people smuggling gangs, as the two countries agreed to boost defense ties on the first official UK visit by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

The trip comes a week after undocumented migrants also topped the political agenda during a state visit to Britain by French President Emmanuel Macron.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Merz signed the first ever “friendship treaty” between their countries at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum before heading for talks at the PM’s Downing Street office.

Merz said London and Berlin had agreed an exchange program for German and British students.

Speaking in German, he said he believed allowing the “young generation” to get to know each other and their respective countries was a “good basis for the further development of our relations.”

The two leaders were also expected to unveil a deal to jointly produce military goods such as Boxer armored vehicles and Typhoon jets, which could lead to “billions of pounds of additional defense exports,” Downing Street said.

They were to commit to developing a precision strike missile with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) in the next decade.

“Chancellor Merz’s commitment to make necessary changes to German law to disrupt the supply lines of the dangerous vessels which carry illegal migrants across the Channel is hugely welcome,” Starmer said ahead of the talks.

His office said it was hoped the German legal changes could be made “this year.”

Undocumented migration has become a major headache for Starmer’s year-old Labour government, as support for the upstart anti-immigrant Reform UK party soars.

More than 22,500 would-be asylum seekers have arrived on England’s southeastern coast by small boat from northern France this year alone.

The “friendship treaty” also seeks to improve post-Brexit ties with its neighbors.

Macron’s trip in early July was the first state visit to the country by a European Union head of state since Brexit — the UK’s acrimonious 2020 departure from the bloc.

A German government source said “we shouldn’t underestimate” how much relations with the UK had improved since the “traumatic” experience of Brexit.

The friendship deal would be a “foundation on which we go further to tackle shared problems,” Starmer said.

The two leaders were also to discuss continued support for Ukraine, with both countries expected to play a role in US President Donald Trump’s plan to send weapons to Kyiv with financing from other NATO countries.

The visit is Merz’s first to the UK as chancellor, although he has already met Starmer several times, including on a trip by train to Ukraine just days after he took office in early May.

The wide-ranging treaty will refer to the turbulent security situation faced by both countries, and include a mutual defense pact.

“There is no strategic threat to one which would not be a strategic threat to the other,” pact says, with a pledge the two countries “shall assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack.”

While Britain and Germany already have a commitment to mutual defense as NATO members, the treaty aims to pave the way for greater defense cooperation, including operations on NATO’s eastern flank.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul accompanied Merz, meeting with his British counterpart, David Lammy.

On migration, Merz’s government is expected to make a commitment to modify German law by the end of the year to criminalize the facilitation of “illegal migration.”

This will include action against storage facilities used by migrant smugglers to conceal small boats intended for Channel crossings.

The two countries will also commit to improving train connections.

Last month Eurostar said it planned to launch a new route from London to Frankfurt in the early 2030s — the first such direct connection between the UK and Germany.