KUWAIT: Representative of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Iraq said Kuwait lends admirable support to the humanitarian causes around the globe. Thanks to Kuwait support, the UN Refugee Agency was able to provide basic assistance, including food, education and healthcare, to millions of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq as well as other parts of the world, Nicolas Beuze told reporters on Monday.

Beuze, who served previously as UNHCR Representative in Lebanon and Yemen, made the comments at the conclusion of his visit to Kuwait. On the two-day visit, he said he had the opportunity to meet government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development Fund (KFAED), as well as representatives of the private sector companies and civil society organizations. All of them showed admirable sympathy and generosity regarding support to the issues of refugees and IDPs in many countries, particularly in Yemen, Syria and Iraq, the UN official pointed out.

Regarding the humanitarian situation of refugees in Iraq, Beuze said it started improving though there are more than 300,000 Syrian refugees in the north parts of the country. The Syrian refugee still face difficulty in securing the necessities of living but the situation is getting out of the stage of emergency, he revealed, noting that it is time to start reconstruction and enable the Iraqi society to recover. On Yemen, he said the country undergoes a state of emergency with an eighth of the population living in extreme famine.

The relief efforts of Kuwait help alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people in general, he affirmed. In a similar vein, UNHCR Representative in Kuwait Nisreen Al-Rubaian said Kuwait continues backing up the UN aid agencies alleviate the suffering of millions of people in friendly countries worldwide. She noted that Kuwait contributed $10 million to the UNHCR activities in Yemen last year and pledged an additional similar funding this year.

"Under Sovereign instructions, the Kuwaiti government set aside, on March 7, five million dollars to relief efforts in Afghanistan and two million dollars in aid of refugees from Ukraine," Al-Rubaian said. She added that the funding for Ukraine would channeled through UN aid agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). On March 10, Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) aid a cargo plane, carrying 33.5 tons of foodstuffs and medical supplies, flew from Abdullah Al-Mubarak Airbase to Warsaw airport to help the Ukrainian refugees in Poland. - KUNA