Kuwait continues adopting initiatives concerning people
PARIS: Responding to instructions by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait will continue providing and adopting several initiatives which concern people, said Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Mohammad Al-Fares.
Fares made the statement in a speech before the 39th session of General Conference of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The State of Kuwait has been assuming its humanitarian and moral responsibility towards problems facing people all over the world, he said.
Kuwait will host an international conference on suffering of the Palestinian child on November 12-13, which will be held amid the Israeli violations to the convention on the rights of the child, Fares, who also chairman of Kuwait National Commission for UNESCO, noted.
Kuwait is also going to host a donor conference to support education in Somalia, as it sees that education plays a key role in the renaissance of peoples and the achievement of sustainable development goals, as well as the expansion of community partnerships.
His Highness the Amir has given instructions to provide $5 million to back UNESCO’s activities pertaining to the Syrian students in Jordan, to fulfill Kuwait’s previous support for UNESCO’s initiatives worth $500,000 in favor of the Syrians and Lebanese people, he stated.
The minister indicated that Kuwait is currently working to host a global center for the empowerment of people with disabilities through ICTs in order to complete the UNESCO award of the late Amir Sheikh Jaber AlAhmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for “Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.”
On environment, Kuwait hosted, under the auspices of UNESCO, a water-related category II center at Kuwait Institute for Scientific Researches, he said. He said that it is clear the world, with billions of people, is currently experiencing difficult and very disturbing times.
The world is also going through critical and dangerous turning points on various paths and levels due to dramatic changes that have taken place, over the last years, on international and regional arenas, topped with increasing unrest and disputes in several areas of the world, he explained.
He said Kuwait expresses its support for goals and objectives by the organization in its plan of action for the second period (2018-22) of its medium-term plan for the 2012-2021 years that call for collective and coherent action within the UN system, with the aim of addressing challenges and keeping abreast of current global changes as well as consolidating the principles of the 2030 UN sustainable development plan. He urged all Member States and the partners to cooperate with, and support, the organization in order to achieve its developmental goals to benefit humankind and realize “our global dream of building a peaceful and fair world.”
The minister voiced Kuwait’s deep appreciation to efforts by UNESCO’s Secretariat aiming to preserve cultural heritage all over the world, mainly the Old City of Jerusalem. He affirmed that the heritage in this area has been subjected to flagrant and continued violations by the Israeli occupation authorities and continued attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has a great symbolism to the Muslims, praying to Allah Almighty that peace and security would prevail all over the world.
Fares conveyed greetings of the Kuwaiti Amir, government and people to UNESCO’s officials for their efforts aiming to address problems facing people and resolve their contemporary issues through peace and security among peoples through education, science and culture.
Earlier yestrday, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova lauded Kuwaiti contributions to the organization, saying that His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was a figure keen on development of education and culture worldwide. Bokova’s statement came during her meeting with minister Fares. —KUNA