UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
KUWAIT [ ABN NEWS ] — United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he always sought advice of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during crises, specially security issues, thanking the Kuwaiti leader for hosting Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria (Kuwait III).
Ban said he counted on Kuwait’s generous support dring the March 31 conference.
“I would like to express my gratitude” to His Highness the Amir for hosting the aid-pledging meeting, due tomorrow, which “shows his humanitarian leadership and his support to humanitarian causes around the world,” Ban said during a dinner hosted by First Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah.
His Highness the Amir’s “gesture shows his humanitarian leadership and his support to humanitarian causes around the world,” he said.
Ban said Kuwait, by hosting the Top Donors Group mechanism, played a key role in providing a platform for dialogue and coordination among the leading humanitarian donors to the Syria Crisis.
This mechanism, he added, has proved to be a good practice and an effective tool to translate pledges into commitments, “helping us to reach a 90 percent commitment rate of Kuwait II pledges.” He was referring to the second international pledging conference, which was held in Kuwait in January 2014 where contributions topped USD 2.4 billion.
The UN will appeal for USD 8.4 billion during Kuwait III, USD 5.5 billion for neighboring countries and USD 2.9 billion for the Syria Response Plan.
“I count on your generous support tomorrow during the pledging conference,” said Ban.
Ban paid tribute for UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief coordinator Valerie Amos, who would be leaving office end of May, as a “champion” in addressing urgent humanitarian crises.
On the other hand, Ban he discussed with the Arab leaders during the 26th Arab summit the crisis in Yemen and the conflict in Syria.
The Syrian crisis has entered its fifth year, said Ban, expressing outrage and shame at what the Syrian government was doing with its people. He said there were more than 220,000 Syrians killed since the crisis broke out in March 2011. Certainly the actual number is much higher, he added.
Ban said there were over 12 million Syrian people affected by the conflict and the UN has failed to end it.
Edited by Jose H Oliveira Jr
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