DOHA: Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) has launched an interactive campaign to recruit new volunteers to participate in the Sixth Disaster Management Camp to be held from March 31 to April 9 at Marine Scout Camp in Al Khor.
The campaign targets 300 to 700 Qatari and non-Qatari youth aged 18-40. A team of QRC volunteers and medical staff are at different places, including Sealine beach, Community College of Qatar, College of the North Atlantic Qatar, Hamad Medical Corporation’s specialised career fair, Qatar University, Hyatt Plaza Mall, Landmark Mall, Ezdan Mall, Villaggio, mosques and QRC medical facilities.
The team communicates with the public and raises awareness about QRC’s mission and principles, value of volunteerism and charitable work and the importance of the camp in acquiring disaster preparedness skills and dealing with emergencies and accidents.
The camp has been in the process of preparation since last October. Many public and private sector companies were invited to sponsor it or to encourage their associates to participate with trainees from 20 Arab national societies and disaster management trainers and experts.
Involving over 300 trainees from Qatar and abroad, the camp will be held in coordination with Qatari institutions, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent, International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations, and the GCC.
The camp is the only Arabic-speaking training event of such a scale and aims to build a well-trained base of volunteers who respond to disasters on time and effectively, enhance coordination with organisations and authorities, minimise casualties and property losses and help society recover from any future disasters.
QRC holds basic and advanced disaster management courses which, together with the camp, constitute a complete specialised training programme to hone emergency preparedness, rescue, coordination, and leadership skills among volunteers and local community.
QRC organised five camps in 2006, 2007, 2012, 2013, and 2014, graduating hundreds of volunteers who would play an effective role with it in responding to disasters in other countries. The Peninsula
