Kuwait pursues relief effort for residents of conflict-hit areas

KUWAIT, Jan 20 (KUNA) -- Living up to its UN-bestowed status as an International Humanitarian Center, Kuwait continued responding to natural and man-made emergencies across the Middle East and beyond over the just-ended week.
On Sunday, January 14, Kuwait's Rahma International charity, an affiliate of the Social Reform Society (Eslah) offered two relief caravans to Syrian refugees in Turkey's southern provinces of Gaziantep and Hatay.
Head of Al-Rahma Syria office Walid Al-Swuilem said up to 640 refugee families in Gaziantep benefited from a caravan. The second was meant to offer psychological support to the Syrian refugees in Hatay.
The aid included cash payments, a party for 11 orphans and training 111 people to provide psychological backing to 130 children, Al-Swuilem added.
Al-Rahma's aid to the refugees hit USD 77 million over the past seven years. On Tuesday, the State of Kuwait has footed the bill of implanting artificial limbs to 66 persons from the northern Iraqi city Mosul.
Kuwait Consul General in Irbil Dr. Omar Al-Kandari said, "the initiative" was part of a campaign aimed at providing medical care to displaced Iraqis and those who were wounded or lost limbs during the fighting to liberate the city from the so-called Islamic State (IS or Daesh).
The aid for the Iraqi people is part of humanitarian campaigns, launched by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Kuwait has secured alternative limbs for a total of 266 people, including children and women, in northern Iraq. Meanwhile, Kuwait Society for Relief (KSR), as part of its "Kuwait on your side" relief campaign for Yemenis, concluded a teaching program in Aden governorate.
Teams trained 95 teachers on modern educational techniques, said Hussein Fakhsous, a leading teaching guide at the society, indicating that the activity aimed at enhancing capacities of male and female teachers and educators in Yemen.
Kuwait set aside more than USD 15 million this year by the society for developing education in Yemen. On Wednesday, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) underlined its unwavering commitment to funding an education programme for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan.
An amount of USD 50 million has been allocated for the project, which is part of a wider USD 300 million Kuwaiti government grant aimed at assisting Syrians displaced in countries neighbouring their own.
KFAS does not function as a charity but has a wide expertise in the field of education and connections with relevant international organisations, explained Deputy Director General Amani Al-Bedah.
The magnitude of the humanitarian crisis that has befallen the Syrian people has urged the move, Al-Bedah said in a statement.
The foundation has contracted nine international and local organisations across Lebanon and Jordan to support the programme, which is currently in its second year and targets the ages between 15 and 24.
These ages are the most likely to drop out of school, marry early or be radicalized by terror groups, said Al-Bedah.
KFAS recently carried out a detailed review on the performance of the contracted parties and their accordance with curricula and standards in both countries.
In Lebanon, some 200,000 Syrian children out of a total 400,000 have enrolled into public schools across the country amid a government education plan organised in cooperation with global organisations, according to government and United Nations figures.
On Thursday, January 18, Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) said it delivered humanitarian assistance to displaced people in South Sudan.
In cooperation with the World Food Programme (WFP) and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) 32 tons of food supplies were airdropped to needy people in South Sudan, which took to 187 tons the total amount of airdrops, said Chairman of KRCS Dr. Hilal Al-Sayer.
The KRCS delegation is supervising the implementation of a number of humanitarian tasks in several locations in the areas inhabited by a large number of poor and needy affected by events in South Sudan during the past years, he added. (end) kt.gb