Khabar Khair (Only Good News)

Within the framework of the pledge of the State of Kuwait announced during the Conference to Support the Humanitarian Situation in Yemen held in March 2021 to provide a grant of US $20 million from the resources available from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Kuwait Fund today concluded a grant agreement with the United Nations Children’s Fund «UNICEF».

The Fund provides a grant of US $2 million to contribute to the funding of the Mother and Newborn Support Project in the conflict-affected areas of the Republic of Yemen. The grant agreement was signed on behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) by Tayeb Adam, a representative of the organization’s Gulf office, while it was signed on behalf of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development by Director-General Marwan Al-Ghanim.

The objectives of the project are to contribute to the reduction of maternal and child mortality in the Republic of Yemen due to the high prevalence of maternal malnutrition and the high rate of teenage pregnancy by improving health care facilities and services for mothers and newborns in five governorates including Al Hudaydah, Saada, Ibb, Aden and Sana’a.

The project will provide basic health care services for mothers and children and train midwives in a range of targeted hospitals in the said governorates. The total cost of the project is estimated at US $2 million, covering the costs of providing health care services in hospitals, health equipment and training. The duration of the project is estimated at one year as of April 2022.

This grant is the seventh provided by the Kuwait Fund to the organization, as the Fund has already signed two agreements to contribute to alleviating famine in Yemen, South Sudan, Nigeria and Somalia, and another to contribute to addressing the cholera epidemic in Yemen in 2017.

Two agreements were signed in 2019, one to contribute to the provision of clean water to the Gaza Strip and another to provide measles injections to Syrian and Lebanese children in the Lebanese Republic. And others in 2020 to contribute to supporting the preparedness and response plan for the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic in areas of IDPs in the Syrian Arab Republic, and to contribute to the program of support for children with cancer in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2021, the total value of these grants is approximately US $18 million.

The year 2019 also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on coordination and cooperation with the Organization in all developmental and humanitarian fields, as well as the exchange of experiences and the conclusion of partnerships.