Kuwait finances USD-1-million social project in Lebanon
Kuwait has funded a social development project costing USD one million in Baalabek, east of Lebanon.
A relevant ceremony was held in Baalabek on Friday on the occasion of launching the project aiming to build and expand Baalabek Center for Care and Development, an affiliate of the Islamic Orphanage House, under the supervision of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).
The ceremony was attended by KFAED Director-General Abdullah Al-Bader, Rauf Jabr, chief of the house, Lebanese members of parliament and several other religious leaders.
The Baalabek Center for Care and Development will be officially inaugurated within three months.
Speaking to KUNA, the KFAED chief said the Kuwait-funded project aims to improve the financial and social conditions of some 1,800 Lebanese needy families by catering for orphans and divorced and widowed women and training children.
It will also rehabilitate people with special needs, including the blind and the deaf, he said. The project has been financed out of Kuwait”s donation worth USD 300 million in 2006, he added.
For his part, the chairman of the Lebanese Islamic Orphanage House thanked Kuwait for its great contributions to Lebanon, especially in the development field.
He said the Baalabek Center would provide required services to orphans, the blind and the disabled and working mothers.
The 1,850-square meter center consists of two new buildings and another re-expanded facility, he added.
The KFAEDK signed three grant deals with the Lebanese side earlier this month, whereby it would provide USD six million to qualify and equip development projects in various Lebanese areas, he said.
The KFAED has now extended 15 loans to Lebanon, hitting a total of USD 550 million, and runs Kuwait”s donations worth USD 300 million as part of reconstruction efforts in Lebanon following the 2006 Israeli aggression on the country.