By Mervat Abdeldayem
KUWAIT, Aug 18 (KUNA) -- As the international community marks the United Nations' World Humanitarian Day on August 19, the State of Kuwait celebrates the role of their women activists in honor of this is year's theme "Women Humanitarians".
In recent history, Kuwait had played an integral part in launching several humanitarian initiatives to make sure that the suffering and the pain felt by the disadvantaged and the needy worldwide would be lessened.
Since the ascension of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to the leadership in 2006, Kuwait launched various humanitarian initiatives, which led to a UN honoring of Kuwait as a global humanitarian center in 2014.
The UN also named His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah as a world humanitarian leader. Kuwait, through His Highness the Amir, also contributed to international humanitarian conferences.
In line with the leadership's guidelines, Kuwaiti women followed the directives of His Highness the Amir and decided to excel in the field of humanitarian work.
Speaking on this occasion, head and founder of "Al-Nowair" positivity initiative Sheikha Intisar Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah told KUNA that Kuwaitis, especially women, were keen on contributing solutions to world humanitarian woes, revealing that her non-profit entity had launched the Intisars Charity Foundation as part of the collective Kuwaiti effort to help people around the globe.
She revealed that the foundation has been working in Lebanon launching three projects for refugees there, adding that the current target was Jordan with programs in September and October.
In regards to the one of the major programs provided by the foundation, Sheikha Intisar said that her entity provided drama psychotherapy, a method of treatment very rare in the Arab world.
This type of treatment mainly targets those affected by war and conflict, indicated Sheikha Intisar who stressed that the foundation provided this treatment with utter conviction of its necessity.
On her part, Secretary General of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Maha Al-Barjas revealed that the society was the humanitarian arm of the State of Kuwait, distributing necessities for those who are in need.
Kuwaiti men and women alike strongly contribute to the state humanitarian efforts worldwide under the guidelines set by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, she affirmed, adding that His Highness the Amir would always march forward when it came to humanitarian relief aid matters both regionally and globally.
Meanwhile, the head of a charity project at the 1987-founded International Islamic Charity Organization (IICO) Sumaiya Al-Maimani stressed the strong role played by women in Kuwait within the humanitarian field, revealing that the organization had launched various projects around the world to help the needy.
One of the major projects involved some 6,606 students supporting educational projects in eight countries, added Al-Maimani.
Around 80 percent of those involved in voluntarily humanitarian work are women from age 18 to 34 and that is evident of the role of Kuwaiti women role in helping their fellow human beings, affirmed the official.
Based on a Swedish-proposed resolution, the World Humanitarian Day is dedicated to the memory of Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues who were killed in the bombing of the UN Headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, 2003 while attending to their humanitarian duties. (end) mrf.gta