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21:51 GMT
GENEVA, Dec 5 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait pledged USD one million to the UN Refugee Agency as part of its voluntary contributions to the Agency's activities in 2024.
Announcing the donation at the UNHCR's Pledging Conference on Tuesday, the country's Permanent Representative to the UN Office at Geneva Nasser Al-Hayen reaffirmed Kuwait's commitment to supporting the humanitarian activities of the UNHCR and other UN aid agencies.
The contributions of Kuwait to humanitarian action aims to alleviate the suffering of disaster-hit people around the globe away from any political agendas, he said.
On the one-day pledging conference, he said it coincided with exceptional disastrous incidents in several parts of the world which required doubling down on the UNHCR's effort to ensure the safety of vulnerable people.
On behalf of Kuwait, Ambassador Al-Hayen called on the conferees to respond to the urgent humanitarian needs of the people in the Gaza Strip and shoulder a collective responsibility for addressing the complicated challenges in the territory.
The Israeli occupation forces persist in their brutal aggression on Palestinian civilians, including refugee camps and facilities of the UN aid agencies, he pointed out.
The attacks of the Israeli occupation forces on civilian targets led to disruption of basic humanitarian services and deterioration of the economy and healthcare system in the Gaza Strip, forcing more than half a million people to flee their homes, Ambassador Al-Hayen went on.
He reiterated the call for the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to shoulder their moral responsibility for halting the criminal war on Gaza and ensure sufficient support to the civilians there.
With today's pledge, Kuwait's contributions to the UN Refugee Agency over the past decade topped USD 462 million. (end)
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