São Paulo – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced last Thursday (18th) that Kuwait has donated US$ 110 million to operations designed to assist Syrian refugees. According to the organization, the donation is “unprecedented.”
According to the UNHCR, the Kuwaiti ambassador to Geneva, Dharar Abdul-Razzaq Razzooqi, handed a US$ 275 million cheque consisting of donations to the UNHCR and other UN organizations, such as the World Food Programme (US$ 40 million), the World Health Organization (US$ 35 million), Unicef (US$ 53 million), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA (US$ 15 million), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA (US$ 10 million).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, stated in a press release that the donations are a breather for the UNHCR and the other agencies, at a time when funds are at desperately low levels. He called on other countries to follow suit. With our current budget, there is no way we can meet the needs of the Syrian people within and outside of Syria.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
