Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities marks Humanitarian Day

Officials at the RACA press conference.

The Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities (RACA) celebrated the World Humanitarian Day which falls on August 19 each year, in the presence of RACA officials, representatives of Qatar Charity and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), and partners in the humanitarian work. The celebration this year highlights the direct impact of climate emergency on the most vulnerable people of the world, raises awareness of their problems, and supports the efforts to deal with climate change. It also commemorates the aid and other workers who were killed while working for humanitarian causes. In a press conference held on the occasion, Director of Licensing and International Cooperation Departments at RACA Dr Mohamed Salah stressed the importance of marking the World Humanitarian Day, highlighting a purpose of the United Nations Charter which stipulates “to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character. He noted that the press conference aimed at highlighting Qatar’s unremitting efforts through the Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities and the state charitable institutions in the field of international co-operation, humanitarian development, response to crises and humanitarian disasters, addressing climate change, and strengthening partnership with international bodies and United Nations institutions to co-ordinate humanitarian action. He said that the Qatari humanitarian and charitable work has made many achievements based on the leading Qatari role in this field, to become a prominent mark in humanitarian and charitable work regionally and globally. This enabled Qatari charities to gain the trust of the international community and international humanitarian and charitable organisations. For his part, Assistant CEO of the Governance Sector at Qatar Charity Mohamed al-Ghamdi noted that the problem of climate change causes many crises, including floods, torrential rains and fires, which leads to the creation of multiple problems while the capabilities of humanitarian organisations are not sufficient to confront them, stressing the need for many international advocacy efforts. He noted the role of the media, social media, governments and humanitarian organisations which can constitute a tool for education and the formation of individual, societal, and then global awareness, adding, “Perhaps the celebration of the World Humanitarian Day is one of these tools.” Disaster Preparedness Specialist at QRCS Khaled Shaheen said that all humanitarian relief efforts carried out by QRCS are carried out in coordination with international organisations, noting that humanitarian relief efforts face a number of challenges, including the difficulty of access to these areas and the presence of multiple risks facing humanitarian staff. He stressed the commitment of QRCS to work in the most difficult areas to alleviate the suffering caused by the worsening humanitarian crises. Qatar Charity concluded today the Humanitarian Work Forum 2021 which was organised in co-operation with Qatar University in conjunction with the World Humanitarian Day. The two-day forum was attended by high-ranking officials from international and local humanitarian organisations, academic institutions, and the United Nations.