Day: 23 June 2023

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Al-Hajri: Kuwait … active player at international arenas

Kuwait’s Minister of Finance Manaf Al-Hajri stressed Friday the importance of Kuwait’s participation in the “Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, as it is an active player at international arenas.

Representing His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Al-Hajri made the statement to KUNA during his participation in the summit held in Paris.

He said that Kuwait also has played a key role at international funding institutions for either investment or development.

Kuwait is keen on partaking in such summits from which countries can share their expertise and learn from each other, he said.

Al-Hajri said global challenges have become more difficult, referring to a need to consider the new global system to verify the effectiveness of achieving sustainable development goals adopted by the UN in 2015.

He pointed to the Bretton Woods Agreement whose features have been formed after World War II, with the aim of finding kind of stability in monetary policies and exchange rate among countries.

Al-Hajri indicated that the new world system was formed before the emergence of a large number of developing countries and their independence. Therefore, the historical formulation was different from the one “we are experiencing today” owing to the different main challenges, he elaborated.

He went to say that after all these years, global peace has been greatly achieved, but there are still increasing development challenges, in addition to climate challenges.

Thus, there is a need to consider a new world system, which has different features and broader goals than it was in the past, he stated.

Al-Hajri stressed the importance of growing financing needs to better confront the arming of fragile states in order to curb poverty, combat climate change and preserve biodiversity. Representing His Highness the Amir, Al-Hajri is leading Kuwait’s delegation, including Kuwait Ambassador to France Mohammad Al-Jedai, to the summit, which features about 50 world leaders, prime ministers and heads of international organizations and NGOs as well as companies and private sector investors.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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Summit for New Global Financing Pact concludes

The “Summit for a New Global Financing Pact” concluded in Paris on Friday in the presence of more than 300 heads of state and government and other dignitaries from across the globe.

At the end of the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron said there is a full consensus on reforming and restructuring global financial agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Macron proposed a follow-up mechanism every six months to all commitments made during the two-day summit, and a meeting in every two years to see progress made from this consensus.

Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen revealed, in a press conference, that debt “is a global challenge,” welcoming progress with China, which lends a lot of money to developing countries outside the traditional framework.

She announced that multilateral development banks allocated USD 200 billion from loans to use them in curbing poverty and combating climate change, in addition to other priorities.

The summit was held upon an initiative from Macron to set bases for a new financial system to overcome the challenges of the 21th century.

Over two days, the conferees discussed means of enhancing international community cooperation in the face of challenges.

The summit included a number of activities and events as well as discussions.

Representing His Highness the Amir Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Minister of Finance Manaf Al-Hajri led the Kuwaiti delegation to the summit.

The event also featured UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as well as other dignitaries.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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NCCAL stresses importance of Kuwait’s participation in ALESCO meeting in Tunisia

The National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature (NCCAL) stressed the importance of Kuwait’s participation in the meeting of the Standing Committee for Arab Culture of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) which discussed ways to preserve heritage and encourage investment in the field of culture.

The meeting, hosted by Tunisia last Tuesday and Wednesday, provided an opportunity to discuss issues regarding culture and heritage sectors, Director of NCCAL’s Foreign Cultural Relations Dept., and Antiquities and Museums Dept. Mohammad bin Redha said in a press release on Friday.

Bin Redha, a member of the Standing Committee for Arab Culture, added that the meeting discussed preparations for the 24th session of the next conference of ministers for cultural affairs in Arab countries, which will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The meeting discussed follow-up on the implementation of the decisions of the 23rd session, added bin Redha, noting that the meeting also discussed supporting the culture of Jerusalem and sponsoring Arab cultural institutions in Jerusalem.

On the sidelines of the meeting, a ceremony was organized to honor the poets on the Arab Poetry Day 2023 and Iraqi poet Nazik Al-Malaika was chosen as a symbol of Arab culture for 2023.

ALECSO is one of the most prominent organizations of joint Arab action, since its establishment, that continues to work on its mission in empowering intellectual unity in the Arab world through education, culture, science, and raising the cultural knowledge to keep pace with global civilization.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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Turkish soldier dies of wound in N. Iraq terror attack

The Turkish Ministry of National Defense said Friday a Turkish soldier succumbed to a bullet injury he sustained in a terror attack in northern Iraq on June 15.

The soldier was taking part in the military Operation Claw against the terrorist Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), according to a statement from the ministry.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

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OHCHR: Violence in W. Bank risks spiraling out of control

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned this week’s violence in the occupied West Bank risks spiraling out of control, fueled by “strident political rhetoric and an escalation in the use of advanced military weaponry by Israel.” “The sharp deterioration was having a terrible impact on both Palestinians and Israelis,” a press release from the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) quoted Turk as saying on Friday.

He called for “an immediate end to the violence.” Following Monday’s Israeli security forces’ operation in Jenin Refugee Camp that killed at least seven Palestinians, including a boy and a girl, and injured at least 91 Palestinians and seven Israeli soldiers, Turk issued a reminder to Israeli authorities of their obligations under international law with respect to the use of lethal force.

The Israeli security forces conducted a series of airstrikes on Jenin Refugee camp in the West Bank, in a major intensification of the use of weaponry more generally associated with the conduct of armed hostilities rather than a law enforcement operation.

On Wednesday evening, there were further reports of an Israeli military drone strike near Jenin, killing three Palestinian men alleged to be members of a militant group, according to the statement.

International human rights law requires Israeli authorities to ensure that all operations are planned and implemented to minimize the use of lethal force. Furthermore, every death caused in such context by Israeli forces requires an effective investigation and, where there is sufficient evidence that there have been violations of national or international law, suspected perpetrators must be held to account.

“Israel must urgently reset its policies and actions in the Occupied West Bank in line with international human rights standards, including protecting and respecting the right to life,” the High Commissioner said.

“As the occupying power, Israel also has obligations under international humanitarian law to ensure public order and safety within the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Following the Jenin raid, four Israeli settlers were killed on Tuesday by two armed Palestinian men near the Israeli settlement of Eli in the West Bank.

The High Commissioner was appalled that such killings were celebrated by some Palestinians. This week there have also been reports of several Palestinian communities being assaulted by Israeli settlers, as well as reports of confrontations between Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli security forces, and Palestinians at Tumusai’ya village in Ramallah, where Israeli settlers allegedly set fire to dozens of Palestinian vehicles and homes.

Reports indicate that four Palestinians were shot, one fatally, with live ammunition at Tumusai’ya.

“These latest killings and the violence, along with the inflammatory rhetoric, serve only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss,” Turk cautioned. So far this year, Israeli security forces have killed at least 126 Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Among them were 21 boys and one girl. Over the whole of 2022, 155 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Security Forces in the Occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, representing the highest number in the past 17 years.

The highest number of Israelis were killed last year since 2016.

Turk reiterated that the underlying dynamics leading to the widespread violence and arbitrary loss of life needs to be addressed with urgency, requiring political will from Israel and Palestinians as well as the international community.

“For this violence to end, the occupation must end,” he stressed, adding, “On all sides, the people with the political power know this and must instigate immediate steps to realize this.”

Source: Kuwait News Agency