KUWAIT: As the
international community marks the United Nations' World Humanitarian Day today,
the State of Kuwait celebrates the role of their women activists in honor of
this 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.

Helping people
worldwide

Speaking on this
occasion, head and founder of 'Al-Nowair' positivity initiative Sheikha Intisar
Salem Al-Ali Al-Sabah said 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.

Humanitarian arm

Meanwhile,
Secretary General of Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) Maha Al-Barjas revealed
that the society is 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.

Strong role

In the meantime,
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 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. - KUNA