Ensour meets Kuwait, UN leaders

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday met separately with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and his Prime Minister Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah.

The meetings came on the sidelines of a Syrian refugee donor conference hosted for the third time by Kuwait, where Jordan appealed for assistance to maintain its services to Syrian refugees and host communities.

At the meeting with Sheikh Sabah, the premier thanked Kuwait for hosting the conference and providing other forms of support for Jordan, noting that the Gulf emirate has fulfilled its commitment to Jordan by paying in full its share of a $5 billion Gulf fund allocated for Jordan.

The emir said that he hoped the outcomes of the conference would be better than those of the two previous meetings, stressing that fund management is key in achieving the goals of the conference. 

He said the humanitarian assistance should not go as UN “operational expenses” such as salaries, studies and other expenditures.

The emir asked Ensour to convey his greetings to His Majesty King Abdullah and a message of support for the Kingdom, saying that Kuwait is keen on enhancing bilateral ties to serve the interests of both countries. 

For his part, Sheikh Jaber told Ensour that his government had received direct instructions from the emir “not to hesitate in funding Jordanian projects agreed on” between the two sides and in granting humanitarian assistance and fighting terrorism.  

Ensour also met separately with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and United Nations Development Programme Administrator Helen Clark, and stressed the importance for the international community to support the Kingdom and finance the 2015 Jordan Response Plan for the Syrian crisis.

Sima Bahous, assistant administrator and director of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States, said that the programme is scheduled to open a regional centre in Amman in May to coordinate efforts for providing developmental and urgent assistance to Syrian refugees. 

Also on the sidelines of the conference, Ensour met with Iraqi Vice President Iyad Allawi, Japanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Yasuhide Nakayama and US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, and discussed bilateral relations and efforts to fight extremism.

The premier stressed that Jordan is trying to keep its borders open with Syria, and maintain its security and stability, noting that hosting refugees could affect the reform process due to the huge amounts of money spent on basic needs of refugees.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury met with UK, EU, Norwegian and German officials and praised their support for Jordan amidst the Syrian refugee crisis.

He also reiterated that there is an urgent need to increase the assistance and meet the requirement of the Jordan Response Plan (JRP).

For their part, the European officials stressed their countries’ commitment to supporting the Kingdom, commending its humanitarian role in the region.

They praised the method used to prepare the JRP and said they agree with Jordan’s request for creating mechanisms to support crisis-hit countries.