Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) participated in the annual one-week course, International Mobilisation and Preparation for Action (Impact), which was held by the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in Tehran.

Organised in co-operation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the course attracted wide participation from national societies in East Asia, Middle East and North Africa.

The course is designed to build strong national societies and co-ordinate field humanitarian action for better response and recovery from disasters.

The attendees included representatives and instructors from IFRC, ICRC and the hosts, IRCS, as well as 28 participants from eight national societies in Qatar, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Georgia, Afghanistan and Iran.

QRC is keen to participate in such humanitarian events for communication, exchange of experience and mutual capacity-building with members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Accordingly, it sent senior volunteer Reema al-Merekhi, trainer in the risk reduction team, to attend the course and prepare her for future representation of QRC in foreign missions, as well as to share her experience and knowledge with peers in QRC for the benefit of all.

The trainees were divided into five groups, each comprising four to five members, who were trained in the role and responsibilities of delegates and principles of work with the host society, the movement and outside partners. The sessions also covered topics such as safety and security, respect for the cultures of distressed populations and international humanitarian law.

The instruction techniques included lectures on the movement’s components, code of conduct, dealing with the media, action in a conflict environment, etc. There was a case study about an unreal country affected by natural disasters and internal/external armed conflicts, with several scenarios for different aspects of relief intervention in emergencies.

In the morning sessions throughout the course, the attendees gave summaries of the previous day by using role-play, competitions and Q&A, and highlighted problems, if any.

On the last day of the event, the IRCS organising committee honoured the co-ordinators and instructors and gave the trainees course completion certificates.

The agenda included post-closing recreational arrangements, such as an invitation by IRCS for all participants to a dinner party at an Iranian classical restaurant and a trip to Iran’s tallest Milad Tower.

Speaking on her participation, al-Merekhi said: “The course was an opportunity to explore experiences from other countries and shed light on some challenges in field action and how to overcome them in the best interest of distressed people.”

She asserted that humanitarian action involves difficulties that hinder reaching out to the victims, the least of which is safety and security, but belief in the sanctity of human soul and dignity is what inspires them as members of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to keep going forward for this noble cause.

“The knowledge that I acquired from the course will be my resource in future missions to help distressed communities. As a token of my gratitude to QRC for offering me this great training opportunity, I have already begun to communicate what I learnt to the risk reduction volunteers. Undoubtedly, I am very happy to share it with members of my society,” al-Merekhi noted.

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