UNICEF welcomes two new Kuwait Fund grants in support of children in Yemen and the State of Palestine

Kuwait, 21 April 2022 – The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and UNICEF today announced two new grant agreements strengthening the cooperation and shared commitment toward improving the lives and wellbeing of children and families in Yemen and the State of Palestine.

H.E. Marwan Abdullah Al Ghanim, Director General of Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development and Mr Eltayeb Adam, UNICEF Representative to the Gulf Area, signed the contributions at the Fund’s headquarters in Kuwait. UNICEF will utilize the new funding to support mothers and newborns in Yemen and sustain water services in the Gaza Strip, the State of Palestine.

“UNICEF highly appreciates the support of The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development in helping the children in need and keeping them safe, especially those in conflict areas,” said Mr Eltayeb Adam, UNICEF Area Representative for the Gulf. “These contributions reflect the depth of relations between The Fund and UNICEF, the generosity of Kuwait, and its deeply-rooted humanitarian commitment.”

“Yemen continues to remain the world’s worst humanitarian and development crisis. Since the eruption of the crisis, basic services have suffered severe setback with lack of access to energy representing a major challenge to the provision of key services, especially vital maternal healthcare,” said the Director General of the Kuwait Fund, Mr. Marwan A. Th. AlGhanem. “We are indeed very glad to partner once again with the UNICEF in support of this humanitarian crisis.”

For Yemen, the Fund provides UNICEF with a US$2 million grant to help reduce maternal and child mortality by strengthening basic health care services for mothers and children and training midwives in a group of targeted hospitals in five governorates.

For the State of Palestine, today’s agreement provides an additional US$ 340,000 grant to support further an existing UNICEF project financed by the Fund since 2020. The additional resource will allow UNICEF to sustain improved access to safe drinking water for more than 280,000 people in the Gaza strip while effectively mitigating the risks of wastewater diseases.