Activities of Secretary-General in Kuwait, 30 March–1 April
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Kuwait late in the afternoon of 30 March from Baghdad to attend the Third Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria.
That evening, the Secretary-General and his senior advisers attended a dinner hosted in his honour by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Khalid Al Hamad Al Sabah.
At the opening of the Pledging Conference on Tuesday morning, the Secretary-General addressed the delegations present. He thanked the Amir of Kuwait, not only for hosting the Conference but also for his pledge of $500 million towards the United Nations humanitarian appeal. (See Press Release SG/SM/16334.)
Mr. Ban said that the Kuwait Conference was an opportunity for the international community to show generosity and to demonstrate how development and humanitarian assistance can be joined up. The Secretary-General reminded the audience that the Syrian people are the victims of the worst humanitarian crisis of our time but that they are not asking for sympathy. They are asking for help. He stressed that the best humanitarian solution to end the human suffering of this crisis is well known: a political solution must be found.
In the margins of the meeting, the Secretary-General held a number of bilateral discussions, including with the Amir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. The Secretary-General thanked the Amir for hosting the Third International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria and for his exemplary leadership in humanitarian causes.
The Secretary-General briefed the Amir on his recent trip to Baghdad where he had met with the President, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the Council of Representatives, as well as other leaders.
The Secretary-General also underlined his growing concern at the situation in Yemen. He reiterated his responsibility, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to try to find a political solution to the conflict as soon as possible.
He also met with Tammam Salam, Prime Minister of Lebanon; Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Deputy Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran; Ayad Allawi, the Vice-President of Iraq; and with Abdullah Ensour, the Prime Minister of Jordan.
At a meeting with Foreign Minister Al Sabah, they discussed the regional situation, including the current state of bilateral relations between Iraq and Kuwait.
The Secretary-General had a tête-à-tête meeting with Samantha Power, the Permanent of Representative of the United States to the United Nations, who led the United States delegation to the Conference.
He also had brief separate meetings with Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister, Ali Hasanov, and Peter Maurer, President of the International Committee for the Red Cross. The Secretary-General delivered closing remarks at the Pledging Conference, and then gave a press conference with Sheikh Al Sabah.
After the closing remarks, the Secretary-General met with Abdullah Al-Matouq, his Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs,
Following a dinner hosted by Mubashar Riaz Sheikh, UN Resident Coordinator for Kuwait, the Secretary-General’s delegation departed to New York, via Dubai.