A+ A-

Politics, diplomacy sole means to solve regional crisis - O'Brien

UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)
UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)

By Hanadi Al-Bloushi

KUWAIT, Nov 6 (KUNA) -- UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien said Sunday solving regional crises should be through sole political and diplomatic means "and nothing else." Humanitarian organizations cannot solve crises in Mosul in Iraq, Aleppo in Syria and in Yemen, said O'Brien, but resolution should be political and diplomatic, and backed by these organizations, which paved suitable ground for dialogue and peace.
These organizations, O'Brien said in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), contributed to stability and bridging gaps among warring parties.
He said Kuwait and the UN shared long and deep history of humanitarian action.
"I'm delighted to be able to come back to Kuwait because this is the center of humanitarian values and not only actions in the Gulf region," he said.
O'Brien said he met with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah to convey UN appreciation for help of people in need around the world, through hosting donor conferences.
"I believe that his highness and the Kuwaiti people have humanitarianism in their DNA," he said, which showed how Kuwait was always willing to help people affected by the natural disasters or wars.
O'Brien highlighted importance of cooperation between countries and the UN agencies to ease suffering of people.
He said relief efforts were not only meant for conflict zones but beyond to include the displaced, and Kuwait was playing a key role in this direction.
O'Brien said he met with officials from Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Science (KFAS) and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED). He considered the two organizations as great and positive examples of entities that help people to find food, medicine, housing, education and jobs.
O'Brien, asked about Iraq, said there were more than 23,000 people who fled their homes in Mosul and neighboring villages amidst projections that this number may surge to nearly a million if the hostilities continued.
He said the UN managed to contact many organizations inside Iraq and provided 60,000 shelters for the internally displaced.
On Syria, O'Brien said there were hundreds of thousands of people in eastern Aleppo living under siege and unable to leave the city, coupled with lack of basic services.
O'Brien, meanwhile, said the crisis in Yemen was very critical with 80 percent of the population affected by the conflict.
However, he added, food supplies were reaching around 3-4 million people every month, and the UN was keen on taking the wounded and patients abroad for treatment. (end) hjb.bs