DOHA: A delegation of Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) participated in the 9th Asia Pacific Conference organised by International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) and hosted by Red Cross Society of China in Beijing for discussions to determine IFRC’s humanitarian agenda and priorities for the region until 2018.
Held under the theme ‘Inspiring Innovation in Asia Pacific in a New Era of Influence and Action’, the forum brought together over 200 senior representatives from national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies from 59 countries in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, as well as members of the secretariat and participating national societies.
Tadateru Konoé, IFRC President, Dr Baige Zhao, IFRC Vice-President, Elhadj As Sy, IFRC Secretary-General, and Christine Beerli, Vice-President, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), were also present.
QRC was represented by Dr Mohamed bin Ghanem Al Ali Al Maadheed, Chairman, Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi, Secretary-General, and Dr Fawzi Oussedik, Director, International Relations and International Humanitarian Law.
Dr Al Maadheed was elected the conference Vice-Chairperson, and Dr Zhao was appointed as chairperson.
The 2nd Asia Pacific Youth Summit, under the theme ‘Young Humanitarians in Action’, was organised prior to the conference. Representatives of national societies discussed and agreed on functions of their youth networks and identified the common ground to strengthen humanitarian actions and the connection of young people to identify regional challenges and improve service delivery for vulnerable people under the Youth Engagement Strategy adopted in last year’s General Assembly.
On the sidelines, Dr Mohamed Al Maadheed and Professor Tha Hla Shwe, President, Myanmar Red Cross signed a memorandum of understanding to build on cooperation between the two national societies since 2012.
The Peninsula
