A select group of leaders and experts affirmed that the nonprofit sector in the Kingdom has entered a new phase of institutional transformation, based on governance, sustainability, innovation, and strategic partnerships, enhancing its role as a key partner in achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, and maximizing its contribution to economic, social, and environmental development. This came during the main discussion session 'The Nonprofit Sector in the Kingdom' within the activities of Saudi Water Week, which highlighted the qualitative transformation the sector is undergoing after becoming an effective pillar in supporting development. In recent years, the sector has contributed to the growth in the number of nonprofit organizations, raising the level of governance, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing the quality of initiatives. The session was moderated by Engineer Mohammed bin Mufleh Al-Shahrani, Deputy Director General of the General Administration of Nonprofit Sector Organizations at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, with participation of Dr. Al-Ramthi bin Qaed Al-Saqri, Director General of the General Administration of Nonprofit Sector Organizations at the ministry; Mr. Ayed bin Abdullah bin Darhim, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Water Supply Charity Association in Makkah Region; and Mr. Hamed Al-Dhiyabi, Director General of Partnerships and Financial Resource Development at the General Secretariat of the Tarahum Committee. The participants stressed that including this session within Saudi Water Week reflects the expanding role of the nonprofit sector in supporting the water and environment system, through implementing water supply initiatives, enhancing community awareness on water conservation, and participating in environmental initiatives, embodying the integration between the governmental and nonprofit sectors in addressing development issues. The session reviewed the reality of the nonprofit sector, its development path, and the main operational, regulatory, and financial challenges facing its organizations, in addition to discussing future empowerment tools to raise performance efficiency, enhance sustainability, and maximize development impact. The discussions focused on four main axes: the sector's reality and its role in national development, challenges facing its organizations, partnerships and financial sustainability as a pillar for raising performance efficiency, and capacity building and enhancing organizational readiness to keep pace with future changes. The speakers explained that the sector's success in the coming phase will not be measured by the number of nonprofit organizations, but rather by the quality of governance, management efficiency, impact measurement, and the ability to build sustainable operational and financing models that ensure continuity of initiatives and enhance their development impact. The session also addressed the concept of financial sustainability as the ability of nonprofit organizations to diversify income sources, reduce dependence on seasonal funding, and build stable resources to ensure the continuity of their programs and achieve their mission, stressing that partnerships between government entities, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations have become one of the most important strategic enablers to raise the quality of initiatives, maximize their impact, and invest resources with higher efficiency. The session witnessed a discussion on the most prominent challenges facing the sector, notably operational, regulatory, and financial challenges, and ways to address them through developing the legislative environment, enhancing governance, investing in national competencies, adopting innovation, and expanding multi-sector partnerships, enabling nonprofit organizations to keep pace with rapid transformations. Participants also discussed the sector's growing role in achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, mechanisms to increase its contribution to national development, turning challenges into growth opportunities, in addition to reviewing best practices in financial resource development, enhancing community trust, and raising institutional performance efficiency. The session concluded by emphasizing that the future of the nonprofit sector in the Kingdom depends on its ability to build more efficient and sustainable institutions, develop innovative financing models, embed a culture of impact measurement, and expand strategic partnerships, thereby strengthening its position as one of the key drivers of sustainable development and an effective partner in achieving the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.

Nonprofit sector, Saudi Vision 2030, economic development, institutional transformation, Saudi Water Week