LOC09:42
06:42 GMT
KUWAIT, Oct 21 (KUNA) -- Kuwait continues this week offering helping hand to needy people around the globe.
On Wednesday, the "Kuwait by your side" humanitarian campaign launched a project to deliver 4,000 food baskets to families affected by war in Amran Governorate in Yemen.
The baskets contain one-month supplies of food, benefitting 4,000 families, member of the Yemeni-Kuwaiti Relief Agency Tariq Abdulwasea said in a press statement.
Meanwhile, Yemeni official Abdulkareem Hanash thanked the Kuwaiti leadership in aiding Yemenis affected by the ongoing war.
The Kuwait by your side campaign provides urgent aid and humanitarian services to Yemen, including food, water, education, shelter, and health.
On the same day, the Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS), in coordination with the Direct Aid Society, announced a new batch of medical assistance to Somalia following the recent terrorist bombings in Mogadishu.
In a statement to KUNA, Chairman of KRCS Dr. Hilal Al-Sayer said that aid would be provided to hospitals in Somalia to treat the wounds of the recent bombings.
KRCS is urgently following the repercussions of the humanitarian situation there through its permanent contact with the humanitarian organizations in Somalia, and will continue to support Somali people in order to live in safety and peace, Al-Sayer said.
For his part, Chairman of the Board of Direct Aid Association, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Muhailan praised cooperation with KRCS to help Somali people, adding that there will be quick response by providing medical medicines to hospitals in Somalia following the terrorist attack that killed hundreds of innocent citizens.
There are four hospitals in Mogadishu in need of medicines and antibiotics to treat the wounded, he said.
On Monday, the International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO) said that it has, so far, launched over 34,000 development projects for the benefit of 296,000 people in 32 countries around the world.
IICO's Chairman Dr. Abdullah Al-Matouq said that the IICO believes in the importance of development projects and their role in improving living, economic, health, and educational conditions for the poor and needy ones.
Al-Matouq made his remarks in a press statement on the sidelines of commemorating the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
The organization has given a special attention to the microfinance program via the good loan fund, aiming to expand in civil society development programs and create partnerships with international and regional organizations, he indicated.
Around 60,000 poor families around the world have benefited from IICO's development programs on living, health, and educational levels, Al-Matouq noted.
He added that the organization's support of small-sized projects in targeted poor societies have contributed significantly to reducing poverty in these societies, said Al-Matouq.
The small-sized projects have made a huge impact in transferring thousands of poor individuals from the consumption circle to the production circle, which eventually secured them with stable monthly salaries, he said.
Al-Matouq also noted that IICO has helped finance development projects in 32 Arab, African, and Asian countries via financing small and medium-sized projects.
The organization provided soft loans for financing such development projects in cooperation with the local charities in these countries, he said, noting that each project's average value estimated at USD 1,000.
Al-Matouq also mentioned that IICO's small loan program seeks to enhance and improve the poor, desperate, and hungry societies.
The program became a strong development tool in alleviating the severity of poverty and reducing its effects on poor societies, he said.
It has also become an influential factor in improving the living standards of poor and needy ones, in addition to creating job opportunities for them, he added.
IICO is one of the leading humanitarian organizations that moved towards fighting poverty through the civil society development program, Al-Matouq affirmed.
The program has monitored the needs of poor categories and provided them with good loans to finance small-sized projects, he said.
It also sought to support the needy ones in targeted societies with life necessities such as food, education, and health, added Al-Matouq.
The program backs various vital projects such as commercial, agricultural, industrial, logistical, and production, he said, noting that such projects reflects the beneficiaries' interests and talents.
The program's indicators of success lies in the total value of all its projects, reaching USD 36 million, he said, adding that the projects' loans repayment ratio was 100 percent.
Al-Matouq also mentioned that sustainable development programs in small-sized projects have become very effective in building abilities in targeted poor categories.
The programs enabled the poor from pursuing good occupations and securing a decent living for their families in light of increased non-employment, education costs, and lack of basic human needs, he noted. (end)
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