DOHA: The Qatar Authority for Charitable Activities, in association with leading charitable organisations in Qatar has launched a campaign to support thousands of people in Africa who have fallen victims of a severe drought that hit several countries of the continent.
Announcing the launch of the campaign at a press conference yesterday, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahim Al Thani, Chairman of the Authority said that the campaign is being held under the logo "Qatar-Africa to 2006" and is supported by the Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
He said more than 11million people in Africa are starving due to the drought caused by shortage of rain for more than three years. The campaign will focus on the most affected countries such as Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti. The fight among shepherds for water and grass has made the situation even worse, reflecting badly on the economies of these countries, he added.
Djibouti is the worst affected while Somalia has witnessed five years of drought which had also plunged the country into a civil war. The UN bodies concerned have expressed severe concern over the worsening scenario in the affected countries. A UN report has stated that the region required urgent aid worth $189m.
This is the first campaign of its kind ever held in a GCC country, Sheikh Abdul Aziz said. He, however, noted that Qatar had extended its support to several African countries on various occasions in the past.
The three leading charitable organisations in Qatar- the Qatar Charity, the Qatar Red Crescent and the Sheikh Eid bin Mohammed Al Thani Charitable Association has already pledged QR100,000 each to support the campaign, he added. An open forum will be held as part of the campaign calling people to donate.
The aid collected through the campaign will be distributed in cooperation with governments in the respective countries and the embassies of Qatar there as well as international organisations working in the field.
Governments of all the affected countries have offered cooperation in this regard, Sheikh Abdul Aziz said.
"We are closely coordinating with all the agencies and organisations working to support the affected African people," he said.
The charitable bodies in Qatar will work independently to support the campaign while the aid will be distributed under the supervision of the Qatar embassies in the respective countries.
Once the money is collected, it would be used to buy food for the victims.
"However, we have no plans to buy food from here and send it to the affected countries due to the difficulties involved. Instead, we would buy food for each country from the local markets or from the neighboring countries," he said.
He urged people from all nationalities to support this humanitarian effort considering the seriousness of the situation.
© The Peninsula 2006
