UN Secretary-General pays tribute to Kuwaiti Amir for humanitarian leadership [EN/AR]
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(New York, 9 September 2014) : The United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, paid tribute today to His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, for his leading support to humanitarian causes around the world.
The Secretary-General presented His Highness with a Certificate of Appreciation recognizing the Amir’s role as a leader and supporter of the United Nations humanitarian work.
The Certificate was handed by the Secretary-General to His Highness the Amir at a ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York, attended by senior Kuwaiti officials and representatives of diplomatic missions.
“We thank the Amir and the people of Kuwait for their outstanding generosity towards people in need,” said the Secretary-General.
“Kuwait has increased its support for multilateral humanitarian action exponentially since the start of the crisis in Syria. In the past two years, Kuwait has donated hundreds of millions of dollars for humanitarian operations – not only in the Middle East, but in Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. Kuwait’s leadership and funding has saved lives, and has galvanized others to participate in coordinated humanitarian action.”
His Highness the Amir announced that the State of Kuwait was doubling their annual voluntary contribution to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), from US$500,000 to 1 million US dollars, noting that, “acts of benevolence and philanthropy are inherent values in the hearts of the Kuwaiti people.”
Kuwait has played a leading role in supporting the UN’s humanitarian work in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 2013 and 2014 Kuwait hosted international pledging conferences for Syria, providing an important platform to mobilize resources for one of the worst protracted crises in the world. Kuwait has provided regular support to several African countries through the Kuwaiti Fund for Development and was recently the venue of the Arab African Summit during which His Highness the Amir pledged $1 billion for development projects across the continent.