Kuwait pledges $250 million in aid to Yemen

GENEVA: Kuwait's permanent delegate to the UN-Geneva ambassador Jamal Al-Ghunaim commended yesterday the outcomes of the UN High-Level Pledging Conference for the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen. Ghunaim said in a statement to the press that Kuwait's aid to Yemen was a positive addition to support the humanitarian situation in the conflict-torn Arab country. Ghunaim stressed that Kuwait's financial support to Yemen preceded many years earlier and continues to helping the humanitarian and development conditions. Kuwait on Tuesday pledged $250 million in aid as a response to UN's appeal for Yemen's humanitarian needs.

Addressing a UN-sponsored third pledging conference on Yemen held in Geneva Tuesday, Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah vowed that his country would keep on helping the Yemeni people through Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) and relevant international agencies. Jarallah hoped that all joint world efforts would lead to an end to the ongoing crisis in Yemen this year, believing that international stakeholders have a mechanism to resolve it. He elaborated that the mechanism of settling the Yemeni conflict is based on UN Security Council Resolution 2216, the Gulf Initiative and its Executive Mechanism and Output of National Dialogue.

Easing out the sufferings
In this context, he stressed the necessity of easing out the sufferings and woes of the Yemeni people and safeguarding regional and world stability. "At the behest of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Humanitarian Leader, Kuwait has exerted political and humanitarian efforts to address this crisis and its diverse dimensions," the Kuwaiti official noted. Kuwait hosted political consultations of Yemeni parties for over a hundred days and provided logistic aid to political talks in Sweden, which produced an agreement among Yemeni rivals, he reminded.

Urging all Yemeni parties to comply with this agreement, Jarallah reiterated Kuwait's support to Yemeni legitimacy, and its efforts to end this devastating conflict through its non-permanent UNSC membership. The Kuwaiti official pointed to Kuwait's hosting of the next round of inter-Yemen political consultations, while commending and backing the endeavor of the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Yemen Martin Griffiths to put an end to the Yemeni problem. This conference comes just a year after the last international gathering on Yemen, during which Kuwait expounded on the tragic situation in Yemen, which, regrettably, has not improved ever since, he said.

Jarallah warned that the Yemeni people have been suffering from an unprecedented tragic situation involving insecurity, diseases and famine, pointing to Yemen's growing humanitarian needs in spite of Arab and international efforts. In this context, the Kuwaiti deputy foreign minister voiced gratitude to Saudi Arabia and UAE for their generous humanitarian aid to Yemen.

Yemen reconstruction
Meanwhile, Jarallah expressed hope that any future international conference on Yemen would focus on development and reconstruction in the country. Jarallah noted that Kuwait has always been keen on supporting the Yemeni people and spared no efforts to put an end to their suffering. "The tragic situations in Yemen are clear to everybody, which prompted the international community to respond to the UN appeal for funding the humanitarian programs in the Arab country," he pointed out. "Kuwait attaches great importance to development as a mainstay for the post-conflict rebuilding process," he said, affirming Kuwait's desire to contribute to the development effort in sisterly Yemen soon after reaching a political breakthrough.

Donation to Syria
In other news, the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the United Nations (ACANU) chose yesterday a photo depicting Kuwait's generous donation to the Syrian humanitarian cause as an important media event for the UN's European headquarters in the last 70 years. Speaking to on the event, Ambassador Ghunaim said that the photo displayed the moment when Kuwait, in 2014, donated a sum of $200 million to the humanitarian cause in the war-torn country of Syria. The photo, which has advisor of the Amiri Diwan Abdullah Al-Maatouq, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and other prominent figures, reaffirms Kuwait's commitment towards helping the people suffering from conflicts and wars, said Ambassador Ghunaim. He added that the UN highly appreciated Kuwait's generous stance, revealing that major news outlets had covered the event of the Kuwaiti donation. Meanwhile, Ambassador Ghunaim said a gallery depicting important international events had photos related to Kuwait included one of the former UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar prior to his visit to Baghdad in January 1991 in effort to end the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The gallery also had a photo of former US Foreign Secretary James Baker in Iraqi also within the efforts to end the occupation. - KUNA