$18 million Kuwaiti grant to support health, municipal sectors in northern governorates

AMMAN – Jordan and Kuwait on Sunday signed a $18 million grant agreement to help the Kingdom cope with the burden of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. 

The Kuwaiti contribution will be directed to health and municipal sectors in the northern governorates of Irbid and Mafraq, Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif said after signing the grant agreement with Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Director General Abdul Wahab Al Bader at the ministry.

“Irbid and Mafraq have been the most hit by the large influx of Syrian refugees over the past three years,” Saif added. 

Noting that his country hosted a global donors’ conference to raise funds for Syrian refugees last year, Bader said Kuwait had pledged $300 million to help Syrians who fled violence in their country. 

He said $250 million would be distributed through the UN, while the remaining $50 million would be granted to neighbouring countries that host the largest numbers of refugees, Jordan and Lebanon. 

Jordan’s share is $18 million. 

Following the signing ceremony, the two officials talked to reporters about bilateral cooperation, particularly in the field of development projects funded by Kuwait’s share of the grant offered to Jordan by four Gulf Cooperation Council member states in 2011. 

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait pledged $5 billion in assistance to Jordan over a period of five years, with each country offering $1.25 billion. 

Saif said Kuwait deposited $750 million in the Central Bank of Jordan in 2012, adding that by mid-November this year the government had spent around $380 million on development projects listed in the state budget. 

The minister noted that the government has so far spent around JD582 million ($823 million) of the overall Gulf grant on development projects.