A Qatar Amiri Air Force aircraft arrived in Khartoum on Sunday to deliver the first shipment of medical aid donated by Qatar to Sudan.
Under a humanitarian intervention conducted by Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), the aircraft landed at Khartoum International Airport with diverse medical supplies aboard. It is the first of three batches of medical aid, totaling 70 tonnes, donated for Sudan’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH).
The remaining batches are to arrive in Sudan over the coming few days, QRCS has said in a statement.
The process of delivery and clearance was carried out by a delegation of QRCS, including Abdullah Hassan al-Mehshadi, general director of the Relief and International Development Division; Ahmed al-Zyara, member of the International Relief Committee; Dilshad Rostom, head of the QRCS mission in Sudan; and mission staff.
The ceremony was attended by Osman Gafar Abdullah, secretary-general of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), Staff Brigadier Mousa Omar Ahmed, head of the Foreign Aid Handover Committee (as representative of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan); Dr Emad Osman Abo Zeid, secretary-general of the National Medicines and Poisons Board (as representative of the FMOH); staff of the Qatar embassy in Khartoum, and local and international reporters.
In his statements, Dr Abo Zeid thanked the government and people of Qatar for their "generous and eternal support" to the Sudanese people. It played a vital role in the war in Darfur, by establishing peace and providing nonstop aid, he noted.
He also thanked QRCS for its efforts to secure medical and relief services for the Sudanese people.
Al-Mehshadi said the medical shipment was contributed by Sidra Medicine and delivered by QRCS, in close co-operation with the Qatar Amiri Air Force. He thanked the partners in Sudan, namely FMOH and SRCS, for facilitating the accomplishment of the project.
“This shipment is part of medical services, which are a top priority for QRCS in Sudan,” added al-Mehshadi. “We are waiting for the arrival of the remaining batches of medical supplies”.
He said QRCS would keep undertaking relief and development operations for the benefit of the Sudanese people. “I would like to thank everyone who helped make this achievement a reality,” he concluded.
