Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) held the Second Forum for Media and the Promotion of Humanitarian Action, which brought together a number of experts and practitioners in humanitarian and media sectors.
The forum, held at the Qatar National Convention Centre, shed light on the relationship between media and humanitarian bodies and the prospects for partnership between the two parties.
The closing session discussed means of developing a partnership document between media and humanitarian bodies.
Director General and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Ayed bin Dabssan al-Qahtani said the forum is being convened during very complex regional humanitarian circumstances, pointing to the positive or negative media influence in this regard.
The idea of the forum stems from RAF's belief of the strong relationship between the media and humanitarian work and the importance of public opinion's formation, support, influence and mobilisation in order to serve the humanitarian work and contribute to its success, Dr al-Qahtani explained.
Humanitarian institutions' work require full support from all institutions of society in order for them to carry out their missions during disasters or wars, he added.
The forum attracts a number of humanitarian and media professionals to enrich discussions and enhance the forum's efforts to provide an open platform for discussion and exchange of experiences in order to achieve solutions for urgent challenges.
The forum aims at achieving a partnership document between media and humanitarian action to serve as the basis for a future working methodology between the two sectors in a more consistent manner.
For his part, Ghanem al-Kubaisi, Director of the Office of Director-General of the Regulatory Authority For Charitable Activities (RACA), the forum's sponsor, stressed RACA's support for all efforts being exerted by Qatari charities to serve humanity.
In this context, he praised all initiatives that would promote channels of communication and co-operation among institutions working in charitable and humanitarian fields, especially the media sector.
A number of experts on humanitarian action and media practitioners took the floor to provide overview about pioneering experiences that embody the partnership between mass media and humanitarian action.
