During his speech at the opening session, Qatar Charity CEO Yousef bin Ahmed al-Kuwari talked about the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the entire world.
“Inequalities are going to be worse than ever, with the rich being able to have access to life-saving health services during the pandemic, while the poor could not afford vaccines to save their lives,” said the CEO.
“Now, we can slowly begin to heal and to achieve justice, social equality and solidarity,” stressed al-Kuwari, indicating that QC spent $500mn last year in over 60 countries, reaching out to 14mn beneficiaries.
He added, “We contributed to saving and changing lives. We worked with partners to catch up with the growing humanitarian needs and we worked to build resilience and hope. Today, we extend this suggestion to all of you present here, organisations and entities from all sectors, and missions participating in this forum to reach out to millions more, and to start to heal from a painful period of our history.”
Qatar Charity, on the sidelines of the event, demonstrated the impact of its humanitarian and developmental activities in 2020, using a 3D display technology at its stand at the AidEx exhibition. The stand has received a large number of visitors attending the event.
QC also ran a panel discussion titled ‘Humanitarian Aid in Afghanistan: New Difficulties and Challenges’ to discuss the difficulties that international organisations are currently facing in Afghanistan, and ways to deliver humanitarian aid, especially in the light of changes in security and logistical conditions.
The panel discussion was an opportunity to improve the importance of the urgent and sustained support needed for the Afghan people and to prevent a major humanitarian crisis.
Nawaf al-Hammadi, CEO’s assistant for the International Operations and Partnerships sector, represented Qatar Charity in the panel discussion. Other participants were Geert Cappelaere, Unicef representative in the European Union Institutions and director of the Unicef Partnership Office; Yasmine Rockenfeller, president of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for Global Issues in the European Union; Philippe Ribeard, representative of Médecins Sans Frontières Afghanistan; and Syahrir Azfar bin Saleh, chief of operations for Global Peace Mission Malaysia.
Speaking about Qatar Charity’s role in Afghanistan, al-Hammadi said QC was among the few organisations that managed to deliver aid directly to Afghanistan. He indicated that more than 180 tonnes of basic relief items were delivered by air to internally displaced Afghans before the winter season.
Al-Hammadi mentioned the obstacles and difficulties that Qatar Charity faced in providing the necessary aid in Afghanistan, emphasising the need to continue working to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan.
Other participants also voiced the need for concerted efforts to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, especially in winter season, and the necessary solutions to protect the displaced people, in addition to the need of supporting the country’s education sector, especially girls' education.