KUWAIT: UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi (left) and KFAED Director General Abdelwahad Al-Bader attend a press conference to announce signing a memorandum of understanding between the two sides. — KUNA

KUWAIT: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. The landmark cooperation between the two agencies was signed between UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi and KFAED Director General Abdelwahad Al-Bader, which took place at Kuwait's UN Headquarters in Mishref.

The framework agreement, according to Grandi, was a 'new and additional page' in the chapter of already growing cooperation between Kuwait and the UNCHR. "This framework agreement was promoted by HH the Amir of Kuwait and by his government and within the agreement we are sure that we are going to start important projects together," he said.

Strategic partnership

Grandi said he chose Kuwait as the first country to visit as new UNCHR chief among other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states to show the importance of their strategic partnership, especially as Kuwait is known as a leader in humanitarian issues as well as the strategic partnership between UN agencies, particularly the refugee agency, and Kuwait. "I wanted to use this opportunity to personally thank HH the Amir for his commitment as a global humanitarian leader. Through him and to the government and people of Kuwait, and the support given by Kuwait, especially over the last years wherein serious problems of refugees were witnessed by everyone, the role of Kuwait has been exemplary," he said.

Grandi noted the support of Kuwait is especially important nowadays because the numbers of refugees are alarmingly growing. "Refugees and displaced people are growing rapidly. Right now we have over 70 million people being dealt with. Unless a political solution is found, especially in conflict areas, refugee numbers will grow further. What we see in Syria as we speak is very dangerous," he said. "The world is talking about refugees with fear now. But we will have more if we do not find a solution by the soonest," he said, referring to a spike in violence in Syria in the past few days.

He also thanked the Amir for hosting three international humanitarian pledging conferences for Syria, noting that he will attend a conference in Kuwait today to discuss the commitment of the donors to the aid pledges made in the fourth "Supporting Syria and the Region" conference in London in February this year.

Yemeni talks

He also spoke highly of Kuwait for hosting the intra-Yemeni peace talks, adding that UNHCR's aid workers are trying desperately to reach the millions of Yemenis trapped in the conflict but to no avail due to the raging fighting. Grandi added that, besides the Syrian and Yemeni crises, he discussed with Kuwaiti leaders the suffering of internally-displaced people in Iraq, which is exacerbating under the prolonged political conflict.

Meanwhile, Bader said the document signed yesterday will enable both agencies to scale up aid for needy people in conflict-hit areas. KFAED's director general appreciated as "honorable" the leading role of UNHCR in humanitarian action over the last 60 years around the globe. He added that the fund has been representing the government of Kuwait in humanitarian action, besides its principal role in backing development projects worldwide. He voiced hope that the MoU will enable UNHCR to take advantage of some of the fund's resources in launching joint aid projects in several areas.

By Ben Garcia