Relief, education, development dominate Kuwait’s aid activities
Kuwait reiterates commitment to assist least developed nations
KUWAIT: The Kuwaiti institutions’ work in providing relief for needy countries focused last week on the relief level in Yemen, Indonesia and Bangladesh, while it focused on education in Lebanon, development in Tunisia and health in Sudan.
Last week in Yemen, the Kuwait Relief Society has announced a package of relief aid to the people of AlMahara governorate through its local partners. This step comes in response to the appeal of the Yemeni government and the local authorities in the province following the declaration of a disaster zone due to the storms that caused heavy losses in public and private property, said the society Board Chairman Ahmad AlJasser. Jasser expressed hope that this aid will contribute to alleviating the suffering of the affected families and meet their needs.
Meanwhile, the Kuwait Food Bank had launched a campaign to aid the victims of Indonesia’s floods and earthquake, which resulted in the death of over 2,000 individuals and severe damages to infrastructure. Director General of the Kuwait Food Bank, Salem AlHamar said that the natural disasters, which hit the city of Palu in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, had led to considerable losses and destruction beyond imagination, affirming that the campaign launched by the bank was aimed at easing a bit of the suffering felt by the victims. The campaign is within His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah’s directives to aid all those in need worldwide, said Hamar who called on the people of Kuwait to contribute to this just and humanitarian cause by providing their donations to the bank headquarter in Al-Adailiyah area.
Rohingya refugees
On the other hand, Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) announced the distribution of food baskets to 20,000 of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh to alleviate their suffering facing the refugees, and the hard condition they are going through. The head of KRCS delegation, Shamlan Fakhro, said that the association distributed aid to the residents of Cox Bazaar which includes 631,000 Rohingya refugees in cooperation with the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent (ICIC) with the participation of international organizations and Red Crescent Societies in Qatar, Bahrain, Turkey, Iraq and a large number of volunteers from Kuwait and Bangladesh. The Kuwaiti delegation was among the first delegations to reach the refugee camps and provide relief assistance and continues to provide humanitarian aid to the largest number of people, he said. He added that the association is currently working in cooperation with the Qatar Red Crescent Society to provide 1,000 homes to serve a large number of refugees in order to alleviate the tragedy.
Last week also, the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) General Secretary Maha Al-Barjas affirmed the organization’s support for educating Syrian refugees and its keenness on protecting their future. Barjas was speaking during a visit by a KRCS’ delegation to a couple of schools in Hosh Al-Harima and Al-Qadriah, villages located in the West Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, to give support to 580 Syrian students. “Education is important and it’s a basic need that a person should have to assure his (her) future specifically and protect his (her) country generally,” Brajas said. Lack of education leads to corruption, endangers the next generation and allows illiteracy to spread in society; meanwhile the world is making an effort to erase illiteracy, as Barjas says. “Unfortunately, wars and armed conflicts prevent people from education and increases number of illiterate people around the world denying them one of the most important chances for (normal) living,” she adds. The KRCS general secretary has called on humanitarian institutions to support this cause, affirming KRCS’ continuous support for providing multiple types of aid to ease life for the refugees.
In the meantime, Bait Al-Yasmine team’s representative, Khadeeja Al-Madani, said in a statement that “Kuwait has contributed to organizing and facilitating all sorts of humanitarian and charitable works for voluntary teams inside Kuwait and abroad.” Bait AlYasmine was licensed by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor in 2016. The relief team operates under the KRCS umbrella. KRCS is a leading humanitarian organization that provides aid and support for Syrian refugees in Lebanon; with consistent activities and projects all year long.
A delegation from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) started a visit to Tunisia last week to discuss the financing of a project to prepare 912 km of rural roads in 22 Tunisian governorates. Kuwaiti Ambassador to Tunisia Ali Al-Dhafairi said that the Development Fund delegation would hold meetings with officials of the ministries of development, investment, international cooperation, housing and territorial development of Tunisia. The talks between the delegation of the Kuwait Fund for Development and officials in Tunisia will lead to agreement on the draft financing the project.
Least developed countries
Kuwait has reiterated its commitment to assist the least developed countries stemming from its full belief in the Sustainable Development Plan 2030. This came in Kuwait’s speech before the United Nations General Assembly which was delivered by Chancellor Tahani AlNasser on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. “We have been very interested in the effective partnership between the United Nations and the African continent, which has culminated in the promotion of peace, security and stability,” she said in a report presented by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). She hoped that the African countries would benefit from the report of the UN Secretary-General to work actively to support development and stability in the continent. This, in turn, contributes to addressing the political, economic and development challenges facing the continent in order to achieve effective implementation of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development Plan 2030.
As part of the Secretary-General’s review of developments with the African Union, Kuwait supports all measures taken to promote sustainable development in Africa and all measures to strengthen cooperation with the African continent through the African Union, she said. She noted the importance of the agreement signed between the United Nations and the African Union last year, “as it represents a cornerstone to support development in this continent.”
Nasser praised the achievements of African countries in the field of development and supported all joint efforts between the United Nations and the African Union to develop a joint strategy for the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Plan 2030 and the African Development Plan of the African Union 2063. The plan was announced at the African summit last January, which aims to accelerate the implementation of the African Sustainable Development Plan and integrate the UN and African plans into a single plan to ensure effective implementation and contribute to an environmentally sustainable, human-centered structural transformation in Africa.
‘Cairo Water Week’
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Water and Electricity’s Assistant Undersecretary for Water Maintenance and Service Khalifa Al-Furaij made remarks during the ‘Cairo Water Week’ conference, an endeavor that raises awareness over global water scarcity. It is imperative to provide the Palestinian Water Authority with the financial aid needed to address water shortages, said a Kuwaiti official. He revealed that an ad hoc committee dealing with water issues in Arab and Islamic nations, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey, among others, would soon be formed. The committee is also tasked with drawing up plans to make sure that water-related sustainable development goals come to fruition, the Kuwaiti official explained. He went on to say that, the Palestinians have expressed their gratitude for Kuwait’s support, particularly in the water sector. The Egypt-hosted conference brings together officials from more than 70 nations, along with a number of international organizations. On the health field, Kuwait Patients Helping Fund Society, Sudan’s office provided about $30,000 to support the efforts in fighting (chikungunya virus) in the city Kassala in eastern Sudan. The Fund Society official Ibrahim Mustafa told KUNA that the fund provided free health services to 15,000 people through 250 medical cadres.