Gulf Red Crescent societies decided here yesterday to establish a disaster management centre in Dubai to coordinate humanitarian intervention at the regional level, officials said.
The decision came at the end of the two-day consultative meeting of the secretary-generals of Red Crescent Societies (RCS) of the Gulf region and representatives of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRCRC).
"We will establish a disaster management centre in Dubai with the task of coordinating the humanitarian intervention at the Gulf level," Ali Saeed Ali, head of Middle East and North Africa Department of the IFRCRC, told Gulf News.
"The centre would also provide training in disaster management to intervention teams and follow up on the humanitarian missions with reports and publications."
Ali said the move is part of the IFRCRC's efforts to decentralise disaster management and other relief activities from the main office in Geneva to the national societies, with the aim of improving the effectiveness of intervention.
Dubai's Humanitarian City, he said, would be the ideal location in terms of logistics and due to the presence of several aid agencies.
Participants in the meeting also appealed to the Gulf Cooperation Council to intercede with local governments to appoint the RCS as main humanitarian delivery agency at the national level.
The move would allow disaster management to become cost effective and time saving, while helping national societies to enhance their capabilities. It would also help Gulf governments keep a record of the huge financial contributions allocated for humanitarian deeds that go unnoticed by the international community.
"The high level of contributions to humanitarian causes by the [Arab and Gulf] governments is hardly recognised [by the international community], because there is no systematic record of this huge circulation of funds," Ali said.
Mohammad Al Maadid, secretary-general of the Qatar Red Crescent, said over the three years Gulf Red Crescent Societies donated about $116.5 million to humanitarian emergencies and natural catastrophes across the world.
Gulf News
