Kuwait donates $68 million to UNICEF and UNRWA in Syria

The State of Kuwait has donated $53 million to UNICEF to help Syrian children inside Syria and refugees in neighbouring countries, and $15 million to UNRWA to assist Palestinian refugees in the conflict-torn country.

The Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations, Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi, handed over the cheques in fulfilment of the pledge made by the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, at the International Donors’ Conference held in his country on 30th January. Kuwait also pledged, in a speech delivered by the Emir at the recent Arab summit in Doha, to continue its humanitarian and political support for the Syrian people.

A further $12 million will be given to the UN Development Programme and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) within a day or so. The balance of a promised $220 million will be sent to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organisation, the World Food Programme (WFP) and other international bodies.

A UN report is due to be submitted to the Security Council next Thursday on the humanitarian situation in Syria, highlighting the plight of refugees and internally displaced persons. The following day, the UN’s Special and Joint Representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, will inform the Security Council about the results of his mediation efforts between the regime in Damascus and Syrian opposition groups.