KUWAIT: Kuwait will remain a state of humanity embodied in the achievements of His Highness the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, lawyer Kawthar Al-Jouan, President of the Women's Institute for Development and Peace (WIDP), said on Friday. This came in a speech Jouan delivered at the e-forum of the Arab Union for Sustainable Development and Environment (AUSDE) entitled 'sustainable food to face hunger in the world' that was held on the occasion of the UN celebration of the World Food Day which falls on October 16.

Kuwait has caught the world's attention, and this led to honoring the late Amir as a 'Humanitarian Leader' and Kuwait as a 'Humanitarian Center,' she said. She expressed pride for Kuwait's charitable record full of humanitarian initiatives and donor conferences for helping several vulnerable peoples. All people know Kuwait's role played in helping the most vulnerable groups in several parts of the world to recover mainly from the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

Basic human right
Eradicating hunger and malnutrition is a basic human right, she said, pointing to the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition adopted on November 16, 1974. Food will remain the essence of life on which the societies are established, she stressed. The 'initiative against hunger' highly succeeded in directing efforts by local, regional and international humanitarian organizations to combat hunger last year, she said. She pointed out that the initiative came in line with the second goal of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN in order to eradicate hunger and help those facing hunger in the world.

Joun said the initiative's programs and projects include small-sized schemes, soft loans, productive and animal farms, bread, food industry, irrigation, dams, water plants, reservoirs, wells, land reclamation, food and nutritional supplements for the orphan, vocational rehabilitation and other projects. She pointed to Kuwait's pledges that hit $1.5 billion and others estimated at $300 million as well as its backing to humanitarian situation in Syria with $188 million.

She stated that the State of Kuwait pledged $300 million in the fourth donor conference on Syria held in 2016 and Kuwait's charitable organizations pledged $61 million. Secretary General of AUSDE Ashraf Abdulaziz opened the forum Friday evening that includes a group of officials, specialists and those interested in development from a number of Arab countries. - KUNA