By Ayman Adly /Staff Reporter


Around 50 international, regional and local humanitarian organisations took part yesterday in the Syrian Humanitarian Crisis Conference (SHCC) organised by Qatar Charity (QC) in Doha.
QC CEO Yousef bin Ahmed al-Kuwari announced that QC has allocated QR100mn for the benefit of the displaced Syrian refugees. QC has also signed four joint agreements of co-operation with four different entities to address various aspects of the crisis and offer the maximum help for the vulnerable Syrians afflicted by the on-going conflict.
These are a strategic co-operation agreement with the International Islamic Charity Organisation, Kuwait, to co-ordinate relief efforts in various fields; a QR3mn deal with the Islamic Call organisation to offer the displaced Syrian refugees help during the upcoming winter season; with Reach Out to Asia to offer education at the time of crisis; and with Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to finance the education efforts for the Syrian refugees at a value of $14mn, half paid by QC and half paid by IDB.
The United Nations was among the participating organisations alongside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Arab League, Some Syrian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), among other key humanitarian entities.
The one-day international conference was targeting the adoption of a new mechanism for co-ordination and co-operation among the various parties concerned with the relief efforts of the Syrian refugees. In particular, as the upcoming winter is expected to be very hard for the refugees, the participants hoped to achieve a unified strategy on how to better address the situation and ease the suffering of the refugees based on a unified plan with updated field information about the quantum of aid needed.
All the delegates highly appreciated the role of Qatar Charity in being a pioneer in offering support for the refugees. Yet, they admitted that the crisis is one of the worst humanitarian situations in the world and the number of displaced and refugees is constantly increasing, which demands more funds and efforts.
The discussion sessions of the conference covered areas such as fulfilling the needs of the Syrian refugees, the available and the expected; challenges for delivering more aid inside Syria and the areas of conflict; the urgent winter needs of the displaced at the refugee camps and how to provide them; and the way to maintain more effective co-operation among stakeholders to bridge the gap between what is needed and what could be actually done.
On the sidelines of the conference, QC organised an exhibition that portrayed the suffering of the refugees during the severe winter conditions and the help needed, especially for their children who were forced out of schools due to the war.
The conference is expected to issue a collection of recommendations to be followed by the participating parties for better co-ordination.