Weekly roundup of Kuwait's regional, int'l humanitarian action

KUWAIT, Dec 16 (KUNA) -- Living up to its UN-bestowed status as an International Humanitarian Center, Kuwait continued to aid needy people throughout the week in several countries.
Starting from Riyadh, the "Kuwait by Your Side" campaign on Friday delivered a water project in western Aden in Yemen to provide water for tens of thousands of citizens.
The campaign said in a press statement today that the project, estimated at USD 600,000, targets 45,000 Yemenis in several areas.
The scheme includes the installation of pumping pipes and pumps as well as the construction of rooms for pumps and for repairing networks, it added.
Deputy Governor of Aden Rashed Sha'e lauded Kuwait's role aiming to restore life to these areas through carrying out several projects in different fields, the statement noted.
For his part, head of the Yemeni-Kuwait relief body Raed Ibrahim thanked Kuwait, the government and His Highness the Amir for the project, which has an utmost importance to the citizens.
In New York, Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi has offered a state's donation to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) supporting its activities and services to Palestinian refugees in Syria.
This contribution, handed over to the Director of UNRWA Representative Office in New York Peter Mulrean, was prompted by Kuwait's strong belief in the necessity of handling the Palestinians' humanitarian conditions, Al-Otaibi said in a statement to KUNA.
It also reiterates Kuwait's firm support to the Palestinian cause, people and refugees, in particular "those facing hard conditions in Syria since the eruption of the crisis in the country (in 2011)," he added.
Al-Otaibi stressed Kuwait's backing to UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krahenbuhl's efforts to maintain the financial stability of the agency so that it can carry on with its activities, providing basic and dignified living conditions and protection for the refugees, as well as preserving their dignity and rights.
For his part, Mulrean highly appreciated Kuwait's support to UNRWA over the past years, saying the generous donation will help meet the needs of the Palestinian refugees in Syria. He also lauded the UNRWA-Kuwait partnership.
Al-Otaibi, further, delivered Kuwait's donation of USD five millions to United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The donations were delivered to Deputy Executive Director of (UNICEF) Omar Abdi in order to support activities of UNICEF and meet the humanitarian needs of Syrian refugees.
"This contribution is a continuation of Kuwait's humanitarian efforts aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people since the outbreak of the crisis there", said Al-Otaibi in a statement to KUNA on Tuesday.
He stressed the strong partnership in the humanitarian and relief field that links the State of Kuwait with the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
For his part, Abdi noted the importance of UNICEF's work to keep a generation of children from being lost due to the lack of opportunities to continue their education.
He thanked the Kuwaiti government for its generous contributions and continued support for the United Nations humanitarian activities in countries affected by conflicts and natural disasters.
Meanwhile, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has offered winter aid for about 50,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan with the Kuwaiti support.
Kuwait offered a generous contribution of USD five million to help about 14,300 Syrian refugees in Jordan as part of its assistance program, UNHCR Kuwait's office said in statement Tuesday.
The UNHCR is also working with its partners to provide support to more than 3.8 million Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the Middle East, the statement said.
It added that the Kuwaiti contribution would be distributed as emergency cash grants for winter in Jordan.
Jordan is currently hosting more than 655,000 Syrian refugees with 80 percent of them living outside the three main refugee camps in the country.
Kuwait has provided support to the UNHCR worth USD 360 million over the past four years to meet the urgent needs of refugees, as a result of crises in Syria and Iraq.
UNHCR's winter aid will continue throughout Middle East and North Africa, where support has been provided to about 1.25 million Syrians and Iraqis refugees.
Currently there are more than 5.3 million Syrians living as refugees in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, and other countries. In Ankara, a team of Kuwaiti doctors arrived to the Turkish southern province of Hatay Tuesday to treat Syrian refugees who sustained injuries by the armed conflict in their country.
This is the 12th expedition of the team to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon - Syria's neighboring countries - to treat Syrian refugees and displaced, Dr. Faisal Al-Hajri, member of the team, told KUNA.
He said the team, sponsored and supervised by Kuwait Zakat (Alms) House, consists of surgeons specialized in brain, neurology, family medicine and urology.
Al-Hajri said the team would carry out a number of operations to Syrian refugees, who had sent reports about their medical condition. Urologists already carried out three surgeries. Other refugees will only need medicine.
Al-Hajri said the team brought some medical equipment to prepare the operation theater in the Emel Hospital in the city of Reyhanli, in Hatay.
The Kuwaiti doctors will also visit Syrian refugees in camps and distribute humanitarian aid, as well as provide psychological and financial assistance to orphans, he said.
Reyhanli is home to around 90,000 Turkish people. The number of Syrian refugees in the city is estimated at 130,000.
The Turkish government allows 20 critically injured Syrians to pass through Bab Al-Hawa crossing on a daily basis to receive treatment at Turkish hospitals. Furthermore, a Kuwaiti medical team has conducted a surgery for a seven-year Syrian child who was wounded when a Syrian military vehicle ran over him during recent regime attacks in Syria.
The surgery was carried out by Kuwaiti medics at Emel Hospital in Reyhanli Town in Turkey's southern Hatay City.
The four-hour surgery was successfully conducted for the Syrian child, who had a pelvic fracture and urethra rupture due to the military vehicle attack, Al-Hajri said.
During the surgery, the Kuwaiti medical team managed to remove some parts of the child's pelvic bone and then smoothly connected the urinary tract, he elaborated.
Moreover, Kuwaiti doctors have conducted critical surgeries at Turkish hospitals for four Syrian children who were seriously wounded in recent Syrian regime attacks, he pointed out.
The Kuwaiti medical team signed a USD-142,000 deal with Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation aiming at providing Turkey's Emel Hospital with necessary equipment to conduct surgeries for Syrian children. (end) hm