By Wassim Haidar
BEIRUT, March 16 (KUNA) -- Officials involved in providing humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Lebanon have said Kuwait's hosting of the 3rd donors' conference for Syrian people was a "new hope" for millions of displaced Syrians.
The officials, in different statements to KUNA, commended Kuwait for ongoing generous aid for Syrian refugees, culmination of which would be the March 31 International Pledging Conference for the Syrian people, also known as Kuwait III.
Jean Nicolas Boueiz, Assistant Representative in Lebanon of the UN High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR), said Kuwait III was particularly important because of the growing number of Syrian refugees and the deterioration of their living and humanitarian conditions.
Remarkable increase of Syrian refugees requires additional efforts to meet their basic needs, said Boueiz, thus UNHCR and its partners highly hoped that Kuwait III would address these needs.
Boueiz highlighted importance of a plan launched by the UN and the Lebanese government, which aimed at addressing influx of refugees in order to guarantee proper assistance for those in dire need.
He noted that Lebanese communities' hosting of Syrian refugees suffered from poverty and high unemployment rates which would thus undermine security.
Sheikh Zuhair Kebbi, Director of the Zakat (alms) Fund of the Fatwa Authority of Lebanon, said Kuwait has played a major role in helping the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Kuwait's role is part of the country's massive humanitarian aid to people around the world, which resulted in the UN honoring of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as a "Humanitarian Leader," and Kuwait as "Humanitarian Center." Kebbi commended Kuwait for hosting the donors' meeting and that it would help honor humanitarian needs of the Syrian refugees.
For his part, Ahmad Obaid, head of Manaber Al-Noor Society, said Kuwait has become a role model in helping the needy thus triggering the UN honoring.
He said Kuwait has been helping the Syrian people since the eruption of their crisis in March 2011.
The Syrian conflict killed more than 210,000 people and displaced millions of Syrians who are either internally displaced or refugees in neighboring countries.
Kuwait hosted the first and second aid pledging conferences for Syria in 2013 and 2014. The two conferences were successful and raised USD 3.9 billion in aid pledges, USD 1.5 billion in the first and USD 2.4 billion in the second. Kuwait donated at total of USD 800 million in the two conferences, USD 300 million in the first and USD 500 in the second. (end) wsm.bs