UN, FAO officials laud Kuwait's aid to most vulnerable societies

KUWAIT, July 2 (KUNA) -- Two UN officials have extolled Kuwait's continued humanitarian aid provided to Syrians and the most vulnerable societies in the Middle East region.
Amid the ongoing crisis of coronavirus (Covid-19), the international community is increasingly concerned about the virus' impact on people all over the world mainly in conflict areas like Syria which has been facing war for nearly a decade, UN Secretary General's Representative and Resident Coordinator to Kuwait Tareq Al-Sheikh said in a press statement on Thursday.
Kuwait, as a Humanitarian Center, has been an example in terms of response to humanitarian urgent relief in Syria and other areas in the world during the last months, he added.
He thanked Kuwait for its continued support to the Syrian cause and refugees as well as for its participation in the Fourth Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region, that was co-hosted by the European Union and the UN.
About 60 governments and NGOs have pledged about USD 7.7 billion for humanitarian aid during the conference, he stated.
He noted that, like many other countries facing crisis, the repercussions of the precautionary measures for the COVID-19 in Syria have impacts on the agricultural sector and affect access to markets.
This increases prices of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, fuel and employment, he said, referring that Kuwait's generous contribution came at a time when "we are facing these consequences and trying to address them." Meanwhile, Regional Representative of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for Middle East and North Africa Abdessalam Ould Ahmad thanked Kuwait for its recent USD three million donation, noting that Kuwait's generous contribution, since last August, helped FAO provide aid to 18,000 most vulnerable people in Syria through delivering agricultural products like cereals, vegetable seeds, animal feed and others.
He said that FAO and Kuwait have cooperated to improve living conditions of farmers by providing good wheat seeds of which each farmer has obtained 200 kilograms to grow a plot of land of one hectare.
He pointed out the enhanced security situation from September 2019 helped a large number of farmers to return to their lands so as to resume their activities. However, they needed agricultural inputs and good seeds if they moved forward with farming, he said.
On a wide scale, both Kuwait and the FAO are increasingly working to fight hunger and malnutrition so as to help the affected communities in the MENA region and beyond like Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Nigeria. (end) ak.hm