Kuwait is keen on supporting efforts by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to feed the poor and aid progress worldwide, said a Kuwaiti official.
Dr Khaled Mahdi – Kuwait’s candidate for the IFAD’s Presidency – said that his country in addition to Saudi Arabia had helped established the fund in 1977 with the aim of developing rural areas as well as aiding the most impoverished and hunger-stricken regions in the world.
Over the course of 45 years, Kuwait had a key role in supporting the fund in all its efforts, he said while recounting the presidency of the fund in 1993 under compatriot Fawzi Al-Sultan.
Mahdi said that he would work on facing challenges facing the fund and finding solutions to urgent matters.
He revealed that his campaign would focus on developing human resources via helping people to help themselves and achieving the goals as per the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).
IFAD’s first special session of the Governing Council on 7 July will appoint the new President of the Fund.
IFAD consists of 177 country-members.
Since 1978, the fund offered $2.23 billion in low interest loans to fund projects benefiting 518 million people around the globe.