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Netherlands lauds Kuwait’s solidarity with Syrian people

By Nawab Khan

BRUSSELS, March 30 (KUNA) -- The Netherlands Monday urged all donors who will be attending the third international pledging conference for Syria in Kuwait on Tuesday to turn their pledges to commitment, and it itself pledged over 30 million euro for the Syrian people.
"This conference is now organised for the third time - and the suffering of the Syrian people just continues and continues. The daily images we see of people suffering inside Syria as well people who have fled to neighboring countries, or who have lost their lives on their way to Europe in rickety boats are horrid reminders for why we gather in Kuwait again," said Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation.
In a statement to the Kuwait news agency KUNA, she expressed her confidence that "the conference will raise a lot of financial resources." Ploumen, who will be the first Dutch minister to attend the pledging conference in Kuwait tomorrow, said "our pledges today are much needed. The Netherlands urges all donors to turn their pledges into commitments as soon as possible." On behalf of the Dutch government and people, Ploumen pledged 20 million euro to UN organizations (10 million to World Food Programme; eight million to UNHCR; two million to UNRWA) and urged them to cooperate in the true sense of the word.
The Netherlands will also grant 12 million euro to a consortium of Dutch NGOs working with Syrian refugees and host communities, who will coordinate their efforts with the UN, and one million euro through the Red Cross system.
She noted that rather than giving people standard aid packages, one should try to focus more on promoting their self-reliance and resilience.
"We need to pay more attention to the consequences of crises for host communities who receive refugees and as a result have to share facilities and services like education and health care," stressed the Dutch minister.
She explained that the economic activities of refugees create opportunities for Small and Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) of host communities.
Lifting or relaxing barriers for refugees to provide for their own livelihood does not only have negative effects on the local communities. It has also positive economic effects. Examples are higher consumption, trade and income from taxes, she said.
"Due to the number of humanitarian crises worldwide and the intensity of the crises current donors cannot provide for the amount of cash needed. Thatآ’s why we need new donors. But not only for the money," said Ploumen.
"We also need new partners to improve the humanitarian system and make it more efficient in the changing context. We welcome very much the Kuwaiti solidarity with the Syrian people," she told KUNA. (end) nk.bs