Saudi, UAE Pledge $100 Mln to Ivanka Trump Womens' Fund

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have pledged $100 million to a women's business fund supported by Ivanka Trump, daughter of the president who Monday wound up a visit to Riyadh.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim announced the donation from both oil-rich Gulf states on Sunday, during a meeting between Ivanka Trump and a group of Saudi women, a member of the US delegation said.

The idea of a fund providing microfinance to women in underdeveloped countries was floated by President Donald Trump's daughter and German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a conference in Berlin last month.

Kim said the donation along with other pledges from the United States and other countries will allow the World Bank to announce the creation of a $1-billion fund for women empowerment during the G-20 summit in July.

"This is really a stunning achievement. I’ve never seen anything come together so quickly," he commented, according to the source.

The US president flew to Israel on Monday after a two-day stay in Saudi Arabia, which he chose for his first foreign trip since taking office in January.