Kuwait’s philanthropy reaches out to those in need

Throughout this past week, Kuwait’s philanthropic initiatives have reached many parts of the world and touched more hearts, cementing the GCC country’s UN-bestowed status as an ‘International Humanitarian Center.’ During the week, in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, the Kuwaiti Society for Relief provided medical supplies and medications to a number of health centers offering services to displaced Iraqis, as part of the ‘Kuwait beside you’ campaign. Medication was offered for various diseases, mainly chronic ones.

In Irbil, Kuwait distributed 15 tons of medical supplies to hospitals in areas that have been liberated south of Iraq’s war-torn city of Mosul. The supplies are part of an incessant flow of Kuwaiti medical aid that has trickled into Iraq, including the construction of medical centers in refugee camps located in Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan. Moreover, the State of Kuwait has allocated $10 million for Syrian refugees in Iraq’s Kurdistan province.

Sheikh Ahmad Ali Al-Sabah, member of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) mission visiting Iraq’s Kurdistan, said the financial aid would be used to carry out projects for Syrian refugees in collaboration with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. He added that the financial assistance would be used to improve public services in three camps in Dohuk and Irbil.

In Yemen, the Kuwaiti-Yemeni relief association earlier in the week inaugurated a number of projects for renovating educational facilities in the Yemeni Governorate of Dalea.’ The ventures include rehabilitating two schools, named Kuwait High School and Kuwait School. The project is part of the second phase of a Kuwaiti funded $23 million campaign, also aimed at securing food, water and dwelling for Yemenis in several provinces of the country.

Jordan

In Jordan, the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) handed a financial aid to a number of Syrian families at refugee camps in the Jordan Valley area, in cooperation with Jordan National Red Crescent Society. KRCS has dispatched its 23rd convoy to Jordan, including 14 trucks loaded with various aid and necessities for the Syrian refugees, said Anwar Al-Hasawi, KRCS’ Deputy Chairman.

In Amman, KRCS delivered aid to 200 families of Syrian refugees. The International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO); another active Kuwait-based organization, also carried out the second phase of an urgent relief program for thousands of Syrian refugee families.

IICO official Ziyad Abu Taleb said that the current campaign comprises the winter installment of aid, earmarked for Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Moreover, he noted that the aid campaign is a donation from Chairman of Kuwait’s National Security Bureau His Highness Sheikh Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah, which encompasses refugee families across the Hashemite Kingdom. The aid included necessities such as food, heaters and sums of money to cover housing expenses.

Gaza

In Gaza, Palestinian Minister of Public Works Mufeed Al-Hasayneh announced the authority there has received $9 million from Kuwait, part of the Arab Gulf state’s grant to rebuild the Palestinian southern governorates.

The new donation, he said in a statement, would be distributed on 1,055 Palestinians who suffered damages caused by the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip in 2014. Al-Hasayneh expressed gratitude for Kuwait, His Highness the Amir and the people for their “huge” support for the Palestinian people.

The KFAED and the Palestinian government signed, in March 2015, a $200 million grant agreement for the reconstruction of the southern governorates. Kuwait had pledged the grant during a donor conference for rebuilding Gaza, held in Cairo in October 2014. The donation will be used to rebuild 1,500 housing units, installing water pipeline, supporting economic sectors, animal resources and infrastructure.

Turkey

Moving on to Turkey, where earlier in the week, Kuwait’s Al-Rahma International Charity announced that a convoy carrying medical aid earmarked for Syrian refugees crossed into southern Turkey.

Head of Al-Rahma International’s office in Syria Waleed Al-Suwailem said that a contingent of doctors from Kuwait Medical Association has tended to around 625 patients at Emel Hospital in the town of Reyhanli in the southern province of Hatay. Moreover, he noted that the aid is part of a campaign launched by Al-Rahma International to provide relief for the people of the war-torn Syrian city of Aleppo. According to Al-Suwailem, Al-Rahma International has delivered $70 million worth of aid since the start of the Syrian conflict.

Meanwhile, Kuwait’s Al-Najat Charity distributed humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees in the province of Hatay, which included food baskets, heaters and pecuniary assistance. In Helsinki, Kuwait’s acting assistant foreign minister for international organizations affairs appreciated efforts by Syria’s neighbors, UN aid agencies and other international donors to alleviate suffering of Syrian people.

Aware of the scale of the humanitarian disaster in sisterly Syria, the State of Kuwait rushed to rescue the Syrian refugees and the internally displaced people, and lobbied for responding to this crisis, Minister Plenipotentiary Nasser Abdullah AlHayyen said.

He was addressing the Conference on Supporting Syrians and the Region, being held in Helsinki, Finland, at the request of the United Nations. Hayyen renewed Kuwait’s support to the intra-Syrian talks that took place in the Kazakh capital of Astana on January 23-24, voicing hope that outcomes of the talks would help build confidence among the negotiating parties and prepare the ground for the coming round of political dialogue, due in Geneva in February. The conference aims to present the UN’s humanitarian priorities for Syria in 2017 and launch the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) for 2017-18, which extends to Syria’s neighbors. — KUNA