QRCS, movement partners eye ways to help Afghan people

Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has held a three-day Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) Partnerships Meeting, with senior participants from the two National Societies, as well as representatives of the components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

The opening ceremony was attended by Faisal Mohamed al-Emadi, CEO of QRCS. In his remarks, he reemphasised the importance of co-ordination among the Movement partners concerned with supporting the fellow ARCS. This, he explained, is a top priority for QRCS’s foreign operations, within the parameters of its humanitarian role as an auxiliary to the State of Qatar and its international relief, development, humanitarian diplomacy, and advocacy mandates.
Among the attendees were an official delegation from ARCS headed by Mawlawi Mutiul Haq Khalis, acting president of ARCS; RCRC delegates from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, the UK, Turkey, Canada, Japan, Kuwait, and other National Societies; the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The purpose of these discussions was to be updated on the complex humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, particularly the most vulnerable victims of conflict and disasters over five decades. With input from the participants throughout the sessions, they sought to get a broad idea about how things really were on the ground, as well as to exchange views about what National Societies and international organisations could do to support ARCS’s endeavours to overcome the crisis, amid local, regional, and international factors.
Also, the donors had the opportunity to raise a set of questions to be answered about Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, especially with regard to ARCS’s five-year Strategic Plan.