Istanbul
01 April 2017
(QNA)

‘Absence of women from humanitarian work can actually compound disasters, especially for struck women and children’ Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani, Special Envoy of the Arab League Secretary General said today. She was addressing at the opening of a two days long int’l conference held in Istanbul on ‘The reality of women in humanitarian work, Challenges & Hopes

Organised by Qatar based ‘Sheikh Eid Charity’ today in Istanbul is participated by over 60 Charitable organizations in addition to dozens of women engaged in charitable work around the world.

The conference aims to focus on women’s role in humanitarian work and ways to develop their abilities in the field.

Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani said that charitable work was one of the ways to respond to human suffering when crises hit.

She lauded the objectives of the conference and said that the event will play an important role in documenting the role of women in charitable and humanitarian work. Referring the history of women’s role in humanitarian work in the Arab world, she reminded their presence when Palestinian refugees crossed the borders to Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. She said that face is that women’s efforts in alleviating that crisis was not documented.

On Syrian crisis, Sheikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al-Thani said that it was one of the worst crises in history. This was backed up by statistics report which reveals that it is the majority of women and the children among the refugees. Under the circumstances women can play a better role in present humanitarian crisis, she said.

Amina Maarifiya, Head of Eid Charity Women’s Center said that women have a prominent role in creating strong and vibrant societies. She added that the participation of women in humanitarian work emphasizes women’s role as an important and active part of society.

She told that there were a lot of challenges in developing the role of women in humanitarian sector. The Eid Charity official highlighted the challenges that Muslim women are facing in the field as an example. She added that one of the reasons for holding this year’s conference was to shed light on how to face those challenges to enhance women’s role in the field.

Fatma Farhoud of World Islamic Council gave a brief on the role that Islamic humanitarian organizations play in addressing crises in the region. She added that there was an urgent need to unify all efforts for better service to all those suffering from any kind of crises in the region.