Charities from Qatar to raise more than 16m USD to help Somalians

A joint campaign to support Somalia will be launched in Qatar on Sunday by four Qatari humanitarian organisations, namely Qatar Red Crescent Society, Qatar Charity, Silatech and Education Above All Foundation. The campaign is under the supervision of Regulatory Authority for Charitable Activities and supported by Qatar Fund for Development.

Announced at a press conference yesterday, the campaign aims to raise more than QR60mn to meet the humanitarian and development needs of the Somali people and provide water, health, education and economic empowerment services, as well as humanitarian intervention in flood-affected areas to provide shelter, food and medical supplies. 
The projects’ list will include the drilling and rehabilitation of wells, rehabilitation of water systems, livelihood projects, support for the agricultural sector, children’s education, building and rehabilitation of schools and health centres, treatment of patients, distribution of food baskets, establishment of social centres, and rehabilitation of roads.

Somalia is suffering from acute crises, perhaps the most serious of which is the famine that threatens 6.2mn people, nearly half of the population, because of water shortages, according to statistics from international organisations and United Nations institutions. There are up to 2.5mn displaced persons, and more than 400,000 who need urgent medical assistance, these statistics indicated, adding that Somalia has low enrolment rates in education, where the rate of enrolment in primary education is 30% and 26% in secondary education.
At the press conference, representatives of the Qatari humanitarian organisations stressed that this campaign is a reflection of the spirit of solidarity between the Qatari and Somali peoples and the official and popular stance of the State of Qatar in support of Somalia in all circumstances and in response to the humanitarian situation in this brotherly country, as a result of recurrent drought and unstable situations due to conflicts. 

Qatar Charity’s Executive Director of International Development Department Mohamed Ali al-Ghamdi said that this joint campaign is a religious, humanitarian and moral duty towards Somalia, stressing his confidence in the people of Qatar to support the campaign to meet part of the humanitarian needs of the Somali people in the areas of water, health, education, food, shelter and other relief and development projects.
He pointed to the deteriorating situation of various sectors of education and health services in Somalia and poor infrastructure and lack of food and medicine, as well as the problems of displacement as a result of disasters, floods and conflicts, adding that reports of international organisations reveal the difficulty of the humanitarian situation in this country, which is trying to recover. 

Executive Director of Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) Youssef Abdullah al-Sada said that recent floods have displaced nearly 700,000 people to double the suffering of this Somali people, stressing that this humanitarian campaign aims to alleviate their suffering. He explained that the QRCS will work through this campaign in various areas of Somalia in the sectors of healthcare, food security, water, sanitation, education and emergency relief intervention.
The QRCS, which has been operating in Somalia since 2000, had managed to implement quality projects over the past years for nearly 900,000 people directly, and for about 4.5mn people indirectly, he said.

CEO of Silatech Sabah al-Haidous said the humanitarian situation in Somalia requires the co-operation of institutions concerned with humanitarian work, and the support of all sectors as well as the donations from the people of Qatar to alleviate the suffering of Somalis through this campaign, which seeks to extend relief assistance to those affected by drought, famine and poverty in Somali regions. 
She added that Silatech’s participation in the campaign is a continuation of its hard work in combating poverty and youth unemployment, which are one of the most urgent problems in Somalia. “We are trying to invest the energies of young people in the development of this country and to protect this enormous human wealth from falling prey to extremist groups,” she said.

SOURCE