Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) concluded its 10-day ninth Disaster Management Camp (DMC-9), held at Al Khor Camp under the patronage of the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).
During the closing ceremony yesterday morning, the trainers and trainees received certificates while the sponsors and contributors were honoured by Ali bin Hassan al-Hammadi, secretary-general of QRCS; Faisal Mohamed al-Emadi, CEO of QRCS; Hussein Aman al-Ali, head of DMC-9; and Mohamed Rashid al-Marri, deputy head of DMC-9.
Many VIP guests attended the ceremony, including Major-General Hamad bin Othman al-Duhaimi, member of the Civil Defence Council and director-general of Civil Defence; Dr Mohamed al-Hajri, director of the Emergency Preparedness and Response Department, MoPH, Official Sponsor; Mohamed Jabr al-Naimi, CFO of Qatar Post; Captain Mohamed Masoud al-Sulaiti from the Ministry of Defence; Pilot Lieutenant Abdullah Dhafer al-Hbabi from the Qatar Amiri Air Force; Lieutenant Ali Hadi al-Marri from the Defence Unit Against Weapons of Mass Destruction; and Khaled Abdullah al-Yafei, director of Operations at Qatar Charity (Gold Sponsor).
The other sponsors and contributors honoured during the ceremony included the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Qatar Media Corporation (Media Sponsor), the Public Works Authority (Ashghal, Platinum Sponsor), Dukhan Bank (Gold Sponsor), ExxonMobil Qatar (Silver Sponsor), Al Meera (Silver Sponsor), Safari Hypermarket (Silver Sponsor), Katara - the Cultural Village (Cultural Partner), Vodafone Qatar (Communication Partner), Lekhwiya, Coasts and Borders Security, Hamad Medical Corporation, The Social & Sport Contribution Fund (Daam), Al Jazeera Media Network and Al Israa Primary School for Girls.
In his speech, al-Hammadi told the participants: “Undoubtedly, you now understand the importance of this training more than ever before. Humanitarian crises are exacerbating, disasters are occurring unexpectedly, and displaced people are looking for someone to alleviate their suffering. This is your role as promising personnel of the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, with the skills and knowledge you learned at this camp, which will hopefully be an asset for your future humanitarian work. And you are advised to share this knowledge with your colleagues at work."
He thanked all the organisers, including the management, committees, trainers and trainees, as well as the sponsors and contributors who made the event such a remarkable success, which was hailed by humanitarians both regionally and globally, QRCS said in a statement.
Al-Ali said, “This camp has received regional and international attention, as it is the world’s only Arabic-speaking disaster management training programme. It attracted diverse participants from Qatari, Arab and international organisations. I am proud to see that most of them are dedicated and creative volunteers. Over the past 10 days, they received some 50 training hours in many topics and specialisations. The Humanitarian Tent hosted informative lectures by experts and specialists in many areas of interest. Also, there were simulation scenarios of disasters to be dealt with by relief workers”.
“This camp seeks to build the capacities of the participants, create well-trained and qualified community-based disaster preparedness and response professionals, and improve co-ordination with national authorities and international organisations,” he added. “This reflects the focus of Qatar on dealing with disasters and crises, as well as international co-operation to control them. It is a vehicle for effective preparedness and adoption of the latest disaster response tools."
