QC continues to fight unemployment through implementing and supporting income-generating projects, and contributing to the enhancement of food situation in the poor societies. In the Comoros, for example, QC’s office supported one of the agricultural cooperatives there.

The Cooperative is taking place in Azew in the north of Ngazidja Island. Its members include some young farmers and graduates from agricultural institutes. QC’s support was through cultivating and planting a 10-hectare field, planting fruit trees (1,000 banana trees, 6,000 sugarcanes, and 500 pineapple trees), different vegetables and potato.

The equipment was delivered to the cooperative during a ceremony held by QC in the Comoros. Several senior figures attended such as His Excellency Mr. Jaber Nasser Al Na’imi, Chargé d'affaires of Qatar Embassy in Moroni; the Commissioner of the Ministry of Agriculture in the Comoros, some local officials from the North of Ngazidja Island and Mr. Mahfouz Zmirlin, QC’s Office Director there.

In his speech, the Commissioner of the Ministry of Agriculture commended Qatar’s efforts in supporting the people of the Comoros and praised the Qatari charity organizations in general and QC in particular for its distinguished projects. QC has implemented projects to fight unemployment and poverty, to reinforce the youth in the field of agricultural cooperatives, and to enhance the food and economic statuses of the country. He also encouraged QC to implement more agricultural projects.

This project is beneficial in so many ways; it plays a role in enhancing the food situation of the people of the Comoros, it is part of the income-generating projects, it fights diseases caused by malnutrition, it helps the unemployed become more independent, it contributes to the development of the countryside and the local economy, it is expected to contribute to the increase of vegetables and fruits and to provide them in the local market thus increase the poor farmers’ income.

In the Comoros, agriculture is considered to be a conventional occupation. It depends on rainy seasons and is greatly connected to the difficult circumstances. It usually costs a lot which makes the youth give up on it as a profession and go look for a better job opportunity in another country.

In 2012, QC announced the inauguration of 430 income-generation projects through supporting poor families. QC did so through offering benevolent loans to help the people start small economic projects at a cost of 126,800 QR. Furthermore, QC supported and developed the infrastructure of the country’s institutions. At a cost of 876,849,3 QR, QC provided them with a building for official meetings in Moheli, and maintained the road connecting Wanani city with Nioumachoua (17 Km) so as to achieve social communication and encourage tourism.

In the past few years, QC equipped and repaired some of the schools and hospitals on the Comoros at a cost of more than 2,000,000 QR. The projects include 26 primary schools in Moheli which comprises 81 classrooms at a cost of around 1,500,000 QR. In addition, the projects were implemented to maintain 4 medical clinics at a cost of more than 500,000 QR.

It is worth mentioning that QC was the first humanitarian organization to open a field office in Moroni, the Capital of the Comoros, in 2010 in order to be able to supervise the humanitarian and developmental projects it is planning to implement in the coming years. 

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• His Excellency Abdul-Raqib Saif Fath, "QC has contributed to the alleviation of the sufferings of the Yemeni people."

QC hosted a preparatory workshop organized by QC and 12 other humanitarian organizations. It was attended by His Excellency Mr. Abdul-Raqib Saif Fath, Minister of Local Administration and the Chairman of the Higher Committee for Relief in Yemen.

The initiative committee included the Higher Committee for Relief, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (Saudi Arabia), The International Committee of the Red Cross (Switzerland), Qatar Charity Society, International Humanitarian City (Emirates), International Medical Corps (United States of America), International Islamic Charitable Organization (Kuwait), Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH Turkey), Start Network (Britain), and International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA in Switzerland).

The workshop was held for the preparation of the Conference of Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen: Challenges and Prospects of the Humanitarian Response. The initiators met for consultation, coordination and cooperation so as to face the deteriorating situation of the Yemenis and their increasing sufferings.

Humanitarian Contributions

During the workshop, Mr. Fath spoke about the great humanitarian efforts QC exerted to alleviate the sufferings of the affected Yemenis who have been suffering from the recent escalation of the crisis in their country.

In addition, he displayed to the attendants the humanitarian circumstances in Yemen and clarified the procedures that are followed in dealing with the situation. He explained, "Our work is divided into several stages. The first stage includes an urgent relief campaign for all of the territories. We are done working on this stage and we started with the second stage which covers the territories where hostilities have stopped. We identify the needs and in cooperation with our partners, we plan our response."

Mr. Abdul-Raqib commended QC's work. "QC is considered to be one of the most active humanitarian organizations in Yemen. With the continuous increase in the numbers of the injured in Yemen, QC's support to the Health sector is spectacular. The Health Sector requires bigger operating theatres and more ambulances," added he.

The conference seeks to unite the visions of the active partners in assisting the Yemenis. It aspires to set the floor for an exchange of information, reinforcement of applied procedures related to identifying the Yemenis' needs according to their type and geographical distribution. It is also to help develop the work plans and joint initiatives.

Mr. Mohammed bin Ali Al Ghamdi, QC's CEO of International Development, said that QC has proven its entire and continuous commitment to offering humanitarian and relief aids to the Yemenis. "QC has not spared any effort to alleviate the sufferings of the Yemenis and provide all the necessary means and supplies for a better life."

He also emphasized on QC's role in hosting and organizing the conference about the Yemeni crisis and how such efforts reflect QC's continuous work for the benefit of the Yemenis regionally and internationally. "QC always makes sure to coordinate, cooperate and exchange information with active humanitarian actors in the Yemeni crisis. It also prioritizes implementing relief projects inside Yemen considering the fact that its people are in deep need for aids. Many people who live there suffer from great shortages in drinking water, food and medications," said he.

QC, as Al Ghamdi said, will exert more efforts to respond to the most urgent calls for relief. It will cooperate with all of the active partners and the parties interested in the Yemenis' affairs, whether those related to the displaced, the besieged inside Yemen, or refugees outside Yemen in order to enable them to receive all of the means for a dignified life.

"Yemen, We Are With You"

It is worth mentioning that QC had already inaugurated a campaign entitled 'Yemen, We Are With You' when the crisis first started. It aimed at collecting a financial support of 36,500,000 QR in order to provide food and medication to around 1,260,000 Yemenis. QC also hosted the workshop on the humanitarian situation in Yemen which was attended by several humanitarian institutions from the Gulf and the Islamic World. The meeting resulted in creating a mechanism and a plan for urgent humanitarian intervention, and announcing commitments and pledges by the participants in order to hurry in offering urgent aids. 

• Al Ghamdi, "QC sponsored this project because it believes in the importance of coordinating between the active associations' efforts for the benefit of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and in the importance of improving the outcomes of the relief work."

QC announced allocating more than 18,000,000 QR (5,000,000 USD) to support and finance the projects of the Union of Relief and Development of Associations in Lebanon, and to reinforce its partnership with acting institutions whose work is for the benefit of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and the displaced in the territories near the Lebanon-Syria border.

Huge Audience

Mr. Mohammed Al Ghamdi, QC's CEO of International Development, was the one to announce the allocation initiative during the fourth annual conference which is held mainly to review the situation of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon. It was organized by the Union of Relief and Development Association in Lebanon and sponsored by QC in Istanbul, Turkey. The conference was held in January (21-23) and was entitled 'So Their Boats Wouldn't Drown: Syrians Torn Between Harsh Asylum and Forced Migration'. Several officials attended the conference such as General Major Mohammed Kheir, Prime Minister of the Lebanese Government; Head of the Supreme Commission for Relief in Lebanon; a number of representatives of the Ministers of the Lebanese Government; Mr. Sulaiman Al Awadhi, Director of Humanitarian Affairs at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; Delegations from QC; High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; and tens of international, Arabic and Islamic Organizations.

In the opening session of the conference, Mr. Al Ghamdi announced the allocation of 3,000,000 USD to finance and support the Union's projects. He also announced the allocation of 2,000,000 USD to reinforce partnership with any association aspiring to work with QC in coordination with the Union according to the procedures followed at QC's administration of international development.

Importance of Sponsorship

According to Al Ghamdi, QC's sponsorship of this conference, which is held for the fourth time in a row, reflects QC's commitment to its role in offering relief to the Syrian people.  QC was one of the very first to respond to the Syrian people since the beginning of the crisis. QC believes in the importance of holding conferences and meetings which aim at coordinating between the active associations in order to improve the outcome of the humanitarian work.

Al Ghamdi headed the first session of the conference which was entitled "Syrians: Harsh Asylum and Migration'. During the session, Mr. Hussam Al Ghali, Humanitarian Affairs Advisor at the Relief and Development Associations Union, spoke about the current situation of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

The introductory statement was by Mr. Omar Khattab, CEO of Relief and Development Associations Union. He spoke about the improvement stages of the Union's work pointing out to the slogan of this year's conference which shows its aim. Its basic goal is to help and assist the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and to alleviate their sufferings now that they are left with two options only: either to go for harsh asylum or forced migration.

One of the very first speeches was the opening statement by Sheikh Ahmed Al Omari, Founder of the Union. He spoke about the establishment of the union and its continuous efforts for the coordination between active associations in relieving the Syrian refugees. He also mentioned the legitimacy it acquired from other societies and associations and the huge steps it's taken so far.

In his speech, Dr. Abdul Hafiz Eitani, Head of Boards of Directors of the Union, insisted on the importance of having a comprehensive, humanitarian vision that balances between the work on meeting the refugees' urgent relief needs and the economic and social development. "Economic and social development makes the refugees more independent. They will depend more on themselves and less on the aids. It will help so many individuals secure their needs depending solely on themselves," added he.

Conference's Papers and Workshops

The second day of the conference included holding a number of workshops. During the second session; which was about urgent relief (the procedures of making decisions and necessity for taking action); Mr. Mohammed Ardur, QC's Director of Crisis Response and Urgent Relief, presented a paper about the definition of 'urgent relief'. He emphasized on the informatic activities and quick response to reduce the impact of natural disasters and wars in terms of stopping and getting ready for them. As for Dr. Hani Al Banna, Head of the Humanitarian Forum, stressed on the refugees' need for urgent and immediate relief and the importance of allocating funds for emergencies, which is done in coordination with international parties and organizations. 

In general, this year's conference discussed a group of papers which spoke about different themes such as the situation of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, the sufferings of the refugees in Arsal, Lebanon's way of dealing with the refugees, the refugees' rights, the definition of urgent relief, the role of charity organizations in making quick decisions, the refugees' need for urgent and immediate relief, the refugees' need for independence, the donors' need for developing the refugees, the impact of development on the refugees; community and hosting country,  how to enable the refugees to help themselves, group shelters (problems and solutions), camps as temporary solutions, impact of living in camps from social and cultural points of view, managing the residential camps during the crisis, impact of war on children, Syrian refugees: keeping their identities and facing the dangers of the society, impact of losing parents on children and alternate resolutions, children's rights and importance of psychological support, and drugs: their reality and psychological impact on refugees in Lebanon.

During the conference, 4 workshops were held on: joy in doing charity work, migration to Europe (pros and cons), problems facing the hosting society and the challenges they may face due to long periods of asylum, future of the new generation for the following 4 years without education and a medical workshop.

Beside the conference, the following courses were held: Relief Work to Improve Economy for the Future, the Sphere Standards and Their Application in the Field, and Role Small Development Projects in Empowering Refugees.

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