Kuwait donates $4 million to UNICEF’s activities in Syria

NEW YORK: Kuwait announced it has donated $4 million in support of the activities of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in Syria and surrounding countries. Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said that he handed the Executive Director of UNICEF Anthony Lake the donation to alleviate the sufferings of Syrian people in need without being biased to any particular party.

Kuwait’s humanitarian contributions reflect the strong bond with UN and its various organizations, he said. Since the outbreak of the crisis in the war-torn country six years ago, Kuwait offered vital and sufficient relief materials through the UN bodies, he added.

The UNICEF’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa in press remarks expressed his appreciation as being one of the largest donor to children affected by the Syrian crisis. With the largest Kuwaiti donation estimated at nearly $5 million, the total donations offered to UNICEF hit USD 139 million since 2013, he said.

Kuwait offered great funding and humanitarian aid to the Syrian crisis in the fields of education, health, nutrition, he affirmed. UNICEF along with its partners succeeded in offering aid to 14 million people in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Egypt, he added.

UNICEF offered social and psychological support through the initiative of ‘No Lost Generation’ for more than one million Syrian children, he said. The role Kuwait played in rallying international support to the Syrian crisis deserves great appreciation, he added. —KUNA