7/26/2011
Kuwait Embassy donates to Japan Red Cross Society

Kuwaiti Ambassador to Japan Abdulrahman Al-Otaibi donated 500,000 Japanese Yen to Japanese Red Cross Society for the sake of helping Japanese victims of the March 11 Earthquake and Tsunami. The meeting was held at the Embassy with the presence of H.E. Mr. Al-Otaibi, Mr. Saad Almehaini, First Secretary, and from Japanese Red Cross Society side, H.E. Mr. Tadateru Konoe, President, Mr. Otohiko Hori, Deputy Director General of International Department Operations Sector, and Mr. Takashi Tanaka, Director of Organizational Development Department Administration Sector. H.E. Mr. Al-Otaibi decided to support the projects of Japanese Red Cross Society and donated a check of 500,000 Japanese Yen, a part of the proceeds from the Charity Bazaar, which was organized by the Embassy of the State of Kuwait Japan on May 14th, 2011 at the Embassy in Tokyo. H.E. Mr. Konoe, President of Japanese Red Cross Society cum President of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, promised H.E. Mr. Al-Otaibi that Japanese Red Cross Society, a member of the Distribution Committee, which is formed around the local governments of the disaster-affected prefectures of the March 11, will make a good use of the Embassy’s donation. Mr. Konoe also expressed his gratitude to H.E. Mr. Al-Otaibi and the Kuwaiti government for the donation of 5 million barrels of crude oil and said that ‘we are negotiating with the local governments and the private companies to distribute the huge amount of the Kuwaiti generous donation directly, effectively, and equally among the affected population’. The use of 5 million crude oils and petroleum products, the donation from Kuwait as the directives of H.H. the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, has been consulted between the Japanese government and related institutions.

‘I trust Japanese Red Cross Society, the institution itself and its activities,’ H.E. Mr. Al-Otaibi said. There is some controversy over the role of Japanese Red Cross Society for delaying the aid distributions. ‘The Kuwait government and its people deeply consider the needs of the people, who still have suffered from the scale of the March 11. And we just hope that our donations will reach the people in need as soon as possible by any means,’ he added. H.E. Mr. Al-Otaibi visited Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, one of the most affected areas by the March 11, to bring the relief goods in April 2011 and saw the real life and situation. With this experience, he expressed his greatest sympathy to the Japanese people in the affected areas, and especially the people in Fukushima Prefecture, in which has been affected by the nuclear problems. ‘I sincerely hope that the small donation from the Embassy will help the projects of Japanese Red Cross Society’, he said. Since the March 11, Japanese Red Cross Society has been sending medical teams, psychosocial support teams to the afflicted areas, as well as undertaking projects to improve the living conditions in the temporary homes, providing special cares for the elderly people and other vulnerable groups.