KUWAIT: Eaman Al-Roudhan, CEO of Zain Kuwait (left) and Hanan Hamdan, Head of the UNHCR Kuwait office attend the press conference.

KUWAIT: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed a memorandum of understanding with Zain Telecommunication Company during a signing ceremony on Tuesday at the UN House in West Mishref. "The memorandum of understanding aims to support refugee issues and improve their situation," said Hanan Hamdan, Head of the UNHCR Kuwait office.

Hamdan said that this cooperation with the private sector is an extension of the strategic partnership, linking the Commission with Kuwait. She praised the role of Kuwait-led relief work around the world, led by His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the humanitarian leader, praising the cooperation between the Commission, foreign media and charity organizations in Kuwait.

Hamdan stressed the importance of the partnership with Zain, "Zain is a great telecommunication company, and has enormous human and technical capabilities that can make a difference in millions of people's lives through the use of technology and social media that can serve humanitarian issues and highlight Kuwait's humanitarian efforts as well," she explained.

Forefront

Eaman Al-Roudhan, CEO of Zain, said Kuwait is in the forefront of countries in the field of humanitarian action because "we have a great leader in His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and this makes us proud as Kuwaitis." Roudhan added that due to the increase in the number of refugees, Zain decided to bear part of the social responsibility and its strategic partnership by supporting volunteer work. She explained that the memorandum of understanding signed will organize cooperation between Zain and the United Nations in providing training programs, spread awareness about refugees and teach people how to use modern technology to serve refugees with the help of Zain staff.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti journalist and humanitarian activist Arwa Al-Waqyan expressed sadness seeing the suffering of children in refugee camps during her visit in November to a refugee camp in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan with the United Nations. Waqyan said that the camps lack the basic needs to live, including heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. "Refugees have diseases because of undrinkable water, which is a real challenge in the lives of refugees and displaced people to live normally," she noted.

She added that the Kurdistan region has a population of about five million people, which means one refugee for every five people, according to 2014 reports, and the number has increased. She said that Erbil needs more attention because what UN offers to refugees is more than its economic capabilities and refugees need more healthcare too.

By Faten Omar