Our Qatar consultation was organised in partnership with Qatar Red Crescent, Qatar Charity and UN OCHA. It was held on May 24th, 2014 at the headquarters of Qatar Red Crescent Society in Doha. 24 organisations were represented including a variety of INGOs and local Qatari charitable and humanitarian organisations with expertise and extensive experience in humanitarian work in Qatar. Among the many topics discussed, the participants in Qatar made especially strong points regarding the role of waqf* as a source of effective and sustainable funding for humanitarian action. They also recommended that work around the Hyogo** framework for managing risks must be activated. It was suggested that after the WHS in 2016, a committee including The Humanitarian Forum and local and regional organisations could be established, with a focus on following up on WHS recommendations.
*waqf: an endowment made by a Muslim to a religious, educational, or charitable cause.
**Hyogo: The 10-year Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) identifies 5 priorities along with guiding principes towards achieving diaster resilience. The framework came out of the World Conference held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan in January 2005.The HFA is the first plan to explain, describe and detail the work that is required from all different sectors and actors to reduce disaster losses using a common system of coordination.
