TEHRAN: TheIranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) praised the initiative of His Highness theAmir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in providing urgent assistance toflood victims which recently hit a number of areas in Iran. Kuwait is the firstArab country to provide assistance to those affected by the floods, IRCSDirector General for International Operations and Programs, Mehrdad Eshraghi,told KUNA yesterday.
Around 11 millionpeople were affected by floods that swept through 23 Iranian provinces, wherethe IRCS have provided shelter for about 220,000 people, Eshraghi said. Themost affected provinces are Lorestan and Khuzestan, he said, and about 266,000people need an urgent help, especially as the weather is still bad amidcontinuous rain.
For his part,Deputy Chairman of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) and head of the missionAnwar Al-Hasawi said in similar statement to KUNA during a meeting with IRCSteam, that plans have been made to be implemented urgently to help the victimsof the floods in the affected areas. Some of affected areas will be visited toassess their needs for supplies, medical equipment, foodstuffs and water pumps,Al-Hasawi added.
In related news,a planeload of relief supplies headed for the Yemeni island of Socotrayesterday to aid the population that have been suffering from harsh livingconditions. Director General of Kuwait Red Crescent Society Abdulrahman Al-Aounsaid in a statement to KUNA that the new consignment of assistance supplies wasa follow-up to previous batches that had been dispatched to the island when itwas ravaged by a severe cyclone almost a year ago. KRCS teams, during the visitto the island, will distribute fishing boats to fishermen; oversee theinstallment of solar energy panels for 250 houses while medics would examinepatients, particularly a number of the islanders who have been suffering fromvarious skin diseases.
Elsewhere, KuwaitConsulate General in Irbil, north Iraq, commemorating the World AutismAwareness Day (WAAD), handed out gifts to children with special needs. Speakingto KUNA in a statement on Friday, Consul General Omar Al-Kandari said, "Weare keen to be with children who are suffering from autism to take part in theWAAD and make these children happy." He added that this initiative, whichcomes at the behest of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-AhmadAl-Jaber Al-Sabah in the framework of "Kuwait beside you" campaign,signals his care for this segment of the society. Kuwait's aid to Iraqi peoplewould continue and vary to cover all segments of the Iraqi society, he noted.
Meanwhile, headof Irbil's autism center Kamal Al-Jabari thanked Kuwait and its humanitarianorganization for being interested in children with special needs. There are2,800 people suffering autism in Irbil, and they are in dire need of treatmentand training, he noted. Their families need support, as their monthly incomecannot afford the cost of treatment, he said, calling for more backing to thesechildren and their families to alleviate their sufferings. - KUNA