‘Kuwait committed to int’l efforts to fight corruption’
UN official lauds Kuwait’s humanitarian role
VIENNA, Oct 2, (KUNA): Kuwait is committed to join international efforts in fighting corruption and share experience with global organizations in the field, according to senior Kuwaiti official.
The statement was made to KUNA by Kuwait’s Ambassador to Austria and its Permanent Delegate to the international organizations in Vienna Sadiq Marafi on Monday, before heading to Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt to take part in the sixth Assembly of Parties (AoP) to the International AntiCorruption Academy (IACA) held from Oct 2-4.
Kuwait is participating in the session for the third time since joining the assembly in 2015, he noted. A delegation from Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority, headed by Counsellor Abdulrahman Al-Nemash will represent Kuwait in the event, he added.
The meeting will discuss developing the academy’s work plan for the upcoming years, said Marafi, adding that IACA, established in 2011, continuously organizes training courses in fighting corruption, including preventing money laundering and smuggling.
Meanwhile, Marafi noted that Kuwait will be the first Arab country to host IACA’s third regional training course for the Middle East next December. The first training course was held in Argentina in 2015, while the second was in Uganda in 2016.
Furthermore, a UN official has valued the humanitarian role undertaken by the State of Kuwait to relieve victims of crises and catastrophes worldwide.
In a statement to KUNA, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Mauritania Nabil Othman said Kuwait has always been ready to provide assistance to the needy people.
The State of Kuwait has always been sympathetic toward people around the globe and its humanitarian leadership, namely His Highness the kind Amir, has responded to humanitarian situations to any requests or projects carried out by UNHCR to serve refugees, especially in (Bassikounou) Camp, which suffers a difficult humanitarian situation.
Othman noted that there were several agreements signed by the UNHCR with Kuwait through Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, adding that Kuwait has promised to continue supporting the refugees.
He pointed to the refugees in Mali and their suffering in (Mbera) camp, which is a temporary home for more than 52,000 Malian refugees.
Othman said that the self-reliance of refugees in (Mbera) camp strengthened through education, including literacy courses; livelihood support through access of fertile land for 1,600 people with specific needs and distribution of goats and income-generating activities, which benefited a total of 3,680 refugees.
Malian refugees also receive scholarships from the Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative Fund, known by the German acronym DAFI, which are designed to enable young refugees to enroll in higher education, he added.