(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Kuwait's adoption of plans to host a third consecutive donors' conference for Syrian refugees in March add a new humanitarian dimension to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah's charitable efforts, said a UN official on Wednesday.
The Kuwaiti government is committed to hosting this event annually and providing the required logistics, the UN Humanitarian Envoy Abdullah Al-Matouq said during Syrian donor nations' group talks in Kuwait.
Kuwait is assuming this stance in light of its acknowledgement of the need to bring together humanitarian partners under one roof in order to assess efforts on Syria, added Al-Matouq, who is also His Highness the Amir's Advisor and Chairman of the Kuwait-based International Islamic Charity Organisation (IICO).
He commended donor nations and organisations for their contributions which helped humanitarian organisations in responding to the needs of millions of victims of the crisis inside and out of Syria, including those who host refugees, which he described as carrying the largest burden of all.
Any apparent lack of funds for the four-year crisis would have "catastrophic consequences", he warned, if responsive actions are not taken now.
"We are required today to discuss resuming humanitarian responsive action and to outline new and effective mechanisms for 2015.
"We are also required to work with both sides of the struggle in order to ease the safe reach of aid through conflict zones and across borders," he said.
These efforts do not constitute UN interference into Syria's internal affairs, neither do they illustrate the decision to stand by one side and not the other, he underlined. These efforts are strictly being assumed while keeping in mind these refugees' fundamental need for stable living conditions.
For his part, Kuwait Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah said that Syrian refugees and internally-displaced people are having to live under a harsh cold winter that is raising the severity of their suffering and ordeal, most of the victims of which are children and the elderly.
"This puts us in front of a moral and humane responsibility that obliges us to increase efforts aimed at easing their suffering and providing their fundamental needs," he said.
Kuwait has contributed USD 600 million to specialised UN agencies, he said, calling on pledging nations to fulfill their commitments made at the former two donor talks.
The decision to host the talks in Kuwait was taken by His Highness the Amir and comes in response to a request by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, he said.
Following the talks, attendees expressed gratitude and appreciation of Kuwait's hosting of the donor talks, its pivotal role in humanitarian response efforts and its cooperation with UN bodies.
In their final communique, they also stressed the need to finding a solution to the crisis in light of its threat to the region and the inability of humanitarian efforts to handle its catastrophic repercussions, to meeting the ever-increasing demands of the displaced and to hosting nations of estranged refugees.
They also underlined the importance of ensuring the safe arrival of aid to those in need amid conflict zones in accordance with Security Council resolutions 2139 and 2165.
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