Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has organised the 2nd course to build the capacity of relief workers involved in Syria in the field of human rights in the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Islamic Shariah.
The course was attended by 18 trainees, with some further 180 beneficiaries who will receive the information of the course through the participants themselves.
The four-day course was held at the headquarters of Afaq Academy, a subsidiary of the Swiss Geneva Call.
Conducted by four specialist lecturers, the course gave useful information on IHL, the International Human Rights Law, and their link with the teachings of Islamic Law.
It also involved documentaries and presentations to enhance learning. Certificates of participation and course material were shared with the participants.
In view of the significant issues discussed in the course, the participants came up with a set of recommendations, including (1) the call for a military code of ethics to outline the major principles, norms, and provisions of IHL from an Islamic perspective, (2) the importance of continuing to hold such courses on IHL and Islamic tenets related to armed conflict.
From the feedback of the participants, it was obvious that there is a need for similar course to be held via videoconferencing to inform the military in Syria about the values and rules of armed conflict, as well as issuing publications that urge belligerents to observe the ethics of warriors in Islam.
This is the second course co-held by QRCS and Afaq Academy to promote IHL and Islamic Law knowledge among the relief workers in Syria.
The two-day course was attended by 20 trainees from QRCS and Syrian NGOs working in Gaziantep, Turkey.
These courses are part of QRCS’s efforts to support the Syrian people in their protracted calamity, whether in terms of relief (food/nonfood aid, medicines, blankets, tarpaulins, ambulances, rehabilitation of camps hit by fire or snow), development (building clay houses, establishing and operating health centres, providing fuel for civil defense vehicles, opening humanitarian corridors, securing water trucks in residential neighbourhoods, installing water networks and heaters at camps), or humanitarian diplomacy and advocacy (organising and participating in conferences and events to raise awareness among the international community about the serious humanitarian conditions of Syrians inside their own country and in neighbouring countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraqi Kurdistan.