ROME: The State of Kuwait has received unanimous support from the Executive Board of the World Food Programme to formally demand the sustained flow of food and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The Permanent Delegation of the State of Kuwait to the WFP told KUNA on Friday that the second regular session of the Executive Board succeeded, at the conclusion of its activities held at the organization’s headquarters in Rome, in issuing an official statement on the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

The Kuwaiti delegation pointed out that the Executive Board’s issuance of the statement came after continuous consultations and negotiations it carried out with the rest of the board member states in coordination with the Arab group at the UN organization to tackle the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

The delegation noted that the Executive Board instructed its chairman in the statement to present to the Executive Director Cindy McCain, “the strong views of the member states regarding the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and their demand of the WFP to effectively carry out its mandate of ensuring the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to all civilians in the Gaza Strip”. It also instructed the chairman to express “the board members’ expectation that the Executive Director will stress the seriousness of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and continue her call so that the World Food Program can effectively carry out its mandate of ensuring the immediate delivery of humanitarian assistance to all civilian populations in need throughout the Strip.”

In his speech at the board meeting, the representative of the State of Kuwait at the WFP Engineer Yousef Jahil, offered “condolences to our people in Gaza and salutes to the steadfast Palestinian people in the face of the most horrific occupation in history.” He praised the WFP’s tireless efforts and work to deliver humanitarian and food aid to civilians in Gaza strip. He stated that the WFP, as recently confirmed by its Executive Director, “possesses logistical capabilities that enable it to quickly deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, which is facing a massive hunger crisis in light of the interruption of food supplies in all its forms to civilians.”

The Kuwaiti representative denounced those who do not see the “ethnic cleansing, the indiscriminate bombing of civilians, the killing of children, or the mass displacement in Gaza.” He blamed those who “pay lip service to international principles, humanitarian values, human rights, equality, solidarity, and basic rights to access to food and water and the empowerment of women and girls.” “Where did these slogans go in the face of the machine of killing and destruction of the occupation forces in Gaza and the burial of children and women under the rubble of their destroyed homes?”, he asked.

Kuwait was reelected to the membership of the Executive Board of the World Food Programme, which consists of 36 countries. Kuwait presided over the Board from 2016 to 2018. The new term would end on Dec 31, 2024. — KUNA