Month: May 2023

The Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives (HoR), Yousef Al-Aqouri, met the British Ambassador to Libya, Caroline Hurndall, at the House’s headquarters in Benghazi, and discussed the latest developments in Libya, including security events in the western region, the holding of elections, and the proposed solutions to address the security situation that stand as an obstacle to implementing them.

In a press statement, the spokesman of the HoR, Abdullah Belihaq, said that the meeting, which was attended by the deputy chairman of the parliament’s foreign committee, Hassan Al-Barghouti, the member of the committee, Fariha Al-Hudhairi, and the member of the interior committee, Moaz Rafi, stressed the need to take measures to build confidence in a way that creates suitable conditions for elections.

The meeting also discussed a number of issues, including illegal immigration, the spread of weapons, and the need for foreign forces and mercenaries to leave Libyan territory, stressing the rejection of external interference in Libya.

“The meeting also dealt with the work of the 6 + 6 committee and its latest developments and the importance of achieving national reconciliation, as well as presenting the HoR’s efforts to reform the legal framework for the work of civil society institutions to give them an opportunity for civil work in accordance with appropriate controls”, Belihaq added.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the attendees welcomed the return of British companies to invest in Libya in the oil area and the reconstruction of Libya, stressing the importance of the UK’s role in supporting stability in Libya and the region in general.

Source: Libyan News Agency

Arab League Assistant Secretary-General for Media Affairs Ambassador Haifa Abu Ghazaleh said Wednesday that the 2030 Sustainable Development plan represents a “new opportunity” to address major development in the Arab world to promote the rights of all children.

This came in Abu Ghazaleh speech at the opening of the Sixth High-level Arab Conference on Child Rights under the title an effective and sustainable development investment that guarantees the rights of the Arab child.

A large number of children do not enjoy full and effective protection as a result of conflicts and humanitarian crises in a number of Arab countries despite the ratification of Child Rights Convention by all Arab countries, she said.

She stressed, investing in a child today means achieving peace, stability, security and democracy tomorrow.

This will not happen unless sufficient investment is made in functional systems and mechanisms that ensure children’s participation in decision-making that affects them at all stages of their growth and development and in line with their evolving capabilities, she said.

The conference aims to highlight the importance of the development agenda for children, as 2030 Sustainable Development Plan represents an opportunity to address the main development challenges in the Arab world with the aim of promoting the rights of all children.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Kuwait’s Ministry of Health on Wednesday affirmed readiness for the upcoming National Assembly elections set on June 6.

Head of the medical emergency department Dr Ahmad Al-Shatti said to KUNA that the ministry prepared medical clinics in 125 polling stations, which includes nurses and paramedics, as well as five ambulances in each governorate.

He also pointed that people can directly contact any emergency department in public hospitals, adding that all area clinics are fully prepared to help anyone.

Al-Shatii called on all voters to follow the rules set by the health ministry, adding that voting priority is for elders, people with sicknesses or disabilities.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Secretary General of the Supreme Planning and Development Council Dr. Khaled Mahdi said on Wednesday that Kuwait is continuously seeking to overhaul legislations concerning expatriate workers with the aspiration TO set up “a smart system” to regulate bringing in the foreign laborers.

Mahdi, in a statement marking launch of the report of the 2023 International Development Bank, indicated that mechanisms would be set up to test professional skills of the workers that would be allowed into the country.

Notions incorporated in the aspired strategy include specifying areas where the workers are highly needed with priority for building a lucrative work environment for the citizens namely the young Kuwaitis who should be employed in the private sector.

A planned online platform will screen potential employed workers from abroad to ensure the newcomers are qualified to perform the job chosen for them. “It does not make sense that a truck driver in his home country turns into an engineer in the host state!,” he sarcastically remarked alluding to some of such cases.

He called for establishing an agency for hiring the foreign expatriates in the private sector.

Meanwhile, member of the national human rights diwan, Dr. Abdulredha Asiri said in a separate statement that the department advocates protecting rights of citizens and expatriates.

The resident representative of the World Bank in Kuwait, Ghassan Al-Khojeh, indicated that authorities of the expatriates’ home countries should have well-studied systems to regulate dispatch of laborers to work abroad.

The head of the International Migration Organization in Kuwait, Mazen Abulhessen, said recommendations incorporated in the report are in harmony with the international convention for mogration and the IMO strategy for the Gulf.

Nisrin Rebaiaan, the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said the WB “has invited us to be part of the consultative commission tasked with recently issued report on the immigrants and refugees.” The recommendations in the report show how refugees can contribute to constructive and sustainable development in the host country, rather than turning into a burden for the community where they have chosen to work other than their countries.

Source: Kuwait News Agency

Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly stressed Wednesday that his country would remain a strong supporter for the Palestinian people and their rights, supported by international legitimacy and the principles of international law.

This came during a joint press conference with the Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh who is on an official visit to Cairo amid rapid developments witnessed in the occupied territories that threatens stability and enhanced violence in the region.

He confirmed his country’s comprehensive commitments in devoting its efforts and diplomatic moves at all levels to achieve stability in the Palestinian lands.

Madbouly stressed the need to re-move the peace process to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state based on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

As for the bilateral relations, the discussion highlighted many cooperative topics that included increasing trade surplus, enhancing access of Egyptian goods and products into the Palestinian market, and boosting cooperation in the fields of health, agriculture, education, culture, and electrical connection.

On his part, the Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said that “Egypt have always been a great supporter for the Palestinian case”, and “today we need Egypt more than any other time”, and referred to the historic and rooted bilateral relations connecting the two countries”.

Shtayyeh explained that Israel is waging a series of different geographical wars against the Palestinian people and their demands to establish their state as well as preventing aid from reaching the families of prisoners and martyrs.

The two sides signed a number of protocols, including political consultations between the Egyptian and Palestinian Foreign Ministries, and cooperation in the agricultural field between the Ministries of Agriculture in both countries.

Source: Kuwait News Agency