The Bahrain Red Crescent Society participated in the “Humanitarian Leadership for MENA region” conference, which was organized in Cairo, Egypt, by the Egyptian Red Crescent Society and in the presence of high-level representatives of regional and international humanitarian and relief organizations.
The Bahrain Red Crescent Society participated in this conference through a delegation headed by Mr. Mubarak AL Hadi, Secretary-General of the Society, Dr. Fawzi Amin, Member of the Board of Directors of the Society, and Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim Hassan, Managing Director of the Society. BRCS’ delegation contributed to the discussion and showcasing of the Bahraini view on some of the main issues raised by the conference: health emergencies, localization of human work, migration and displacement, climate change, resource mobilization, and financial sustainability, youth and volunteering, and gender equality in relief and humanitarian work.
Mr. Al Hadi stressed the importance of this conference to showcase the most important humanitarian priorities in the region, strengthen existing partnerships and identify new areas of integration between national Societies, stakeholders, and other partners for the effectiveness of humanitarian and relief work.
Mr. Al Hadi said that the conference was a major step towards bringing together the ideas of those with experience in humanitarian work to develop frameworks and ideas that would serve as solutions to many humanitarian issues, to unify visions on the most prominent priorities and challenges in the MENA region, and to address all challenges, most notably climate change, refugee issues, and long-term crises.
Mr. Al Hadi noted the conference participants’ agreement on best practices and innovative methods for addressing climate change challenges in the humanitarian field, exchanging ideas for more flexible solutions to protracted refugee and displaced person crises, and calling for adequate funding to meet humanitarian challenges, as well as strengthening the role of women and youth leaders in the MENA region.
At the end of the conference, the Delegation of the Bahrain Red Crescent Society participated in the “Cairo Declaration”, which was issued under the theme “Call for Action”, and included several recommendations, including accelerating influential local actions that promote mitigation and adaptation of climate change, leading to the resilience of societies while reducing disaster risk, setting priorities and community-led actions, while engaging with public authorities in developing national adaptation plans, as well as renewing the meaningful role of involving young people and volunteers in addressing climate and environmental crises in their communities.