Kuwait undertakes innumerable waqf (i.e. religious endowment) projects all over the world to promote sustained development and economic growth in countries with Muslim populations, said a Kuwaiti researcher on Thursday.
Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs' researcher Jarrah Al-Zaid, addressing a conferece here on the role of religious endowments or waqf in helping Muslim minority communities in Europe, said that Kuwait currently is pursuing 16 waqf projects in several parts of the world, among them projects for translating and distributing books, giving financial aid to post-graduate students, providing safe water, promoting literature and science, funding the writing of atlases and geographical books, and creating contests with valuable prizes for winners.
He said the conference here aimed at tossing around ideas and exchanging experiences on waqf and its benefits for Muslims everywhere but especially for Muslim minorities in Europe.
Among other activities, he said that the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in Kuwait has completed numerous waqf-inspired projects in the Islamic world in conjunction and partnership with the Islamic Development Bank.
He added that Kuwait's waqf contributions to the Islamic world's sustainable development stemmed from the role Kuwait has become known for as a humanitarian center under the leadership of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah whom the UN has honored as a "Humanitarian Leader".