World Food Programme Welcomes Further Kuwait Support To Help Syrians In Crisis
GENEVA – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today welcomed a further generous contribution from the State of Kuwait in support of its emergency operations to assist the people of Syria, both inside the country as well as in neighbouring states hosting Syrian refugees.
Kuwait’s donation of US$45 million, was presented to WFP by H.E. Dr. Abdullah Al-Matouq, Special Advisor of His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Chairman of the International Islamic Charitable Organization (IICO) and the UN Secretary-General’s Humanitarian Envoy.
The presentation took place during a ceremony co-hosted by the Mission of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to mark contributions by the State of Kuwait to the Syria crisis in 2015.
Receiving the contribution on behalf of WFP, Barbara Noseworthy, Assistant Executive Director a.i, expressed heartfelt appreciation for the State of Kuwait’s steadfast support for WFP’s efforts to alleviate suffering among the Syrian people.
“Kuwait's latest contribution to the World Food Programme demonstrates yet again not only the generosity of the Kuwaiti Government, but it also reinforces the humanitarian leadership of His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait, in supporting the millions of men, women and children whose lives have been torn apart by the conflict in Syria,” Barbara Noseworthy said.
His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, was recognized and given an award in September 2014 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as a “Humanitarian Leader,” especially with regard to the Syria crisis.
At the beginning of June, an event on the occasion of “Humanitarian Leader’s Day” was held at the Kuwait Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 to honour H.H. the Amir of Kuwait. The Kuwait Ambassador to Italy, H.E. Sheikh Ali Al Khaled Al Sabah, invited WFP Executive Director Ertharin Cousin to join him at the celebration. And in March, WFP held a photo exhibition at its headquarters in Rome and then in Kuwait City, to mark the State of Kuwait’s highly welcome and important support for WFP’s Syria operations.
With this latest contribution, Kuwait has donated a total of US$122 million to WFP’s Syria operations, and is the largest donor from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries to Syria operations. Currently, Kuwait is WFP’s second biggest donor to the crisis in 2015, and the sixth largest donor to the crisis overall (2013 – 2015).
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WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. Each year, WFP assists some 80 million people in around 75 countries.
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For more information please contact (email address: firstname.lastname@wfp.org):
Elisabeth Byrs, WFP/Geneva, Tel. +41 22 917 8564, Mob. +41 79 473 4570
Caroline Hurford, WFP/Rome, Tel. +39 06 6513 2330, Mob. +39 348 1232 5018
Abeer Etefa, WFP/Cairo, Mob. +201066634352