Doha – Qatar hosted on Sunday a consultative meeting of humanitarian non-governmental organizations to support humanitarian assistance for Syria.
The meeting brought together a number of humanitarian organizations and institutions from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries(GCC), Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon along with representatives from the United Nations.
The meeting, which was held ahead of the upcoming “Brussels Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region” scheduled to be held on April 4-5, presented information on the humanitarian situation in Syria and ongoing efforts deployed by GCC humanitarian organizations and institutions, as well as enhanced coordination between the actors.
According to QNA, the meeting provided participants with the opportunity to announce their pledges and future plans to fulfill commitment and identify additional support.
Dr. Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Muraikhi, United Nations Secretary General’s Humanitarian Envoy, said that the meeting was aimed at developing visions and proposals on the challenges facing humanitarian institutions, which will be then presented to the Brussels Conference.
In his opening speech reported by QNA, Dr. Al Muraikhi said the Brussels Conference was seen as an important step towards achieving solutions for outstanding political and humanitarian issues.
The conference also seeks to give a voice to the GCC Gulf humanitarian organizations, he said, adding that the event would as well highlight efforts exerted by humanitarian organizations and institutions in GCC countries to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people affected by the ongoing crisis.
In this context, the UN official stressed that he would convey a positive image of the continued humanitarian assistance provided by the GCC institutions and organizations to the Brussels Conference.
The worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria would require $8 billion for the current year, of which $3.3 billion would be for the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and $4.7 billion for the 3RP Regional Refugee camp; Resilience Plan, he said, quoted by QNA.
Around 13.5 million people in Syria need humanitarian assistance while 8.4 million people were forced to flee to neighboring countries, Al-Muraikhi added.
For his part, Chairman of the Board of Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS), Mohamed bin Ghanem Al Ali Al Maadheed, presented the reality of Syrian crisis and the nature of challenges faced by the displaced and refugees.
He urged humanitarian organizations to focus their attention on building social peace and strengthening local communities to meet current and future humanitarian challenges.