KUWAIT: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development stated that the State of Kuwait is considered one of the most prominent and largest donor countries to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), with contributions amounting to KD 77 million (equivalent to $250 million) since 2010 to date.

This came during a speech delivered by the Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Economic Development, Marwan Al-Ghanim on Monday, during the celebration of honoring the United Nations Organization. The United Children's Fund of the Kuwaiti Fund and in celebration of the Diamond Jubilee and its development efforts in improving the living conditions of generations of children in several regions in the world.

"Kuwait has a clear footprint in supporting children directly by providing financial support to organizations specialized in motherhood and childhood, as UNICEF has become one of the most important recipients of grants from the State of Kuwait due to its pioneering role in the field and its activities in child protection and well-being," Al-Ghanim said.

The Kuwait Fund has provided UNICEF with seven grants, amounting to approximately 6 million dinars to finance the organization's projects in different regions, in addition to providing a separate grant of KD 1.2 million to the organization to support the response plan during the COVID pandemic in Syria within the program to support the future of Syria.

He explained that "the coming period will also witness the provision of a new grant of 615 thousand dinars which is in the process of being approved by the Board of Directors of the Fund to finance the renovation of schools in Lebanon as part of the investment project in the infrastructure for children and youth education."

Al-Ghanim expressed his welcome to the International Children's Day, which falls on November 20 of each year, reviewing some of the contributions of the State of Kuwait represented by the Kuwait Fund for Development in the field of promoting the rights and well-being of children in developing countries through a variety of activities. "The fund's commitment to developing the strategic partnership with the organization in order to support child protection efforts and achieve the ultimate goal of providing an environment that is healthy and safe for the world's underprivileged children," he added.

On her part, the UNICEF Regional Director in the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khadr, expressed her thanks and gratitude for the Kuwaiti support for children during 60 years of development work, through which it contributed to improving the living conditions of generations of children around the world. "The profound impact of the Fund's loans and grants has been in the sectors of education, health, agriculture, irrigation, transportation and communications, as well as improving indicators related to childhood, such as the death rate and disease prevalence rates," she added.

She also renewed her thanks to the Fund for the success of the projects it funded during the past five years, which resulted in a strategic shift in joint work and direct partnership during response to crises threatened children and their proper development, which was embodied in 10 projects that addressed famine in Somalia, Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen, as well as supporting health programs in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen and building health systems in the Gaza Strip to protect children and their families from pollution and diseases. - KUNA