(With photos) UNITED NATIONS, Aug 25 (KUNA) -- Kuwait donated around USD 450,000 to the United Nations' Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) as a step acknowledging the fund's role aiding countries hit by natural disasters and crisis.
After a meeting with Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Catherine Bragg, Kuwait permanent Ambassador to the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi said that he handed the UN official two checks worth USD 200,000 and USD 250,000, with the lateral check donated to help relief aid efforts in Turkey after the earthquake which hit the southern part of the country months ago.
Al-Otaibi lauded the efforts of CERF, assuring that Kuwait would continue to support the fund's cause in helping others.
Since 2008, Kuwait started to allocate 10 percent of its relief aid donations to help in CERF efforts. The Kuwaiti donations continued to increase from the USD 50,000 till it reached USD 500,000 as requested from United Nations' Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon during his recent visit to Kuwait and his meeting with His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
On her part, Bragg told KUNA following the meeting "we are very grateful" for this new contribution which "puts Kuwait amongst the top donors from the region to the CERF. Having the support of Kuwait is incredibly important for us." She noted that the Fund appreciates Kuwait, not just in terms of financial contribution, but also "we appreciate our increasing relationship with Kuwait in all the things that we do in our advocacy, in specific operational issues." "When we talk about Kuwait," she added, "we don't just talk in terms of its financial support. Of course, that we are very, very appreciative of, but it is more our increasing close relationship with Kuwait that we find to be more important." "So Kuwait, in supporting this fund, will allow us to continue to be able to provide financing. We are very, very grateful to Kuwait in terms of the last few years of its increasing contribution to the CERF because it started out very small but now it is in the top level of donors from the region, and that is very, very appreciated," she asserted.
She disclosed that Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos will visit Kuwait in late September to attend a Conference on Partnership and Information Sharing, hosted by the Government of Kuwait.
She explained that the CERF is being used for nearly all of the emergencies in the world at the moment, but in particular it is being used for Syria, which is in urgent need of donor support. (end) sj.gta KUNA 251027 Aug 12NNNN