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Kuwait chairs first major donors meeting on Syria

KUWAIT, March 18 (KUNA) -- President of the International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO) and UN Secretary General's Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs Dr. Abdullah Al-Matouq chaired on Tuesday the first meeting for major donors' group to support the humanitarian situation in Syria.
"Challenges we face at this Syrian crisis are numerous as donors bodies have been for three years exerting utmost efforts to meet humanitarian needs for Syrian people," Dr. Al-Matouq said in his opening speech at the meeting.
He explained that the Syrian situation has become more complicated and that people are becoming more desperate due to 9.3 million individuals who are in need for humanitarian aid, noting that keeping up with needs is by itself a major challenge for donors' bodies.
For his part, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said that this meeting is a completion for the first donors' meeting, held lately in Kuwait, and falls within the same framework as members realize the size of the humanitarian disaster faced by the Syrian people.
At the first donors' meeting, Kuwait pledged USD 300 million, then USD 500 million at the second meeting, in which USD 250 million from Kuwaiti government, USD 50 million by Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED)'s resources, and USD 200 million from Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti charities, said Al-Jarallah.
This meeting will add a new thought for donors, as well as a good opportunity to address standards which was discussed at the first meeting, Al-Jarallah indicated, asserting that group members will follow-up intensively what had been addressed of humanitarian pledges and aiding the Syrian people. (end) amn.ysa.ma KUNA 181712 Mar 14NNNN