Thursday, May 25, 2006

Union of NGOs in Arab states urged

Excerpt from Gulf Times May 25, 2006:
Releasing a communique at the end of a three-day seminar on 'The role of NGOs in sustainable development' in Doha yesterday, Sudan-based Al-Zubayr Charity president Othman al-Zubayr said it was essential to enhance the performance of Arab NGOs.

The participants stressed the need to form a federation of all NGOs operating in the Arab countries. "The participants are invited to form an entity including all the Arab NGOs and to form a committee to set the objectives, powers and the host country of such a union," they said.

A network connecting all the Arab NGOs was also proposed. "Information technology experts can lend a helping hand in this regard."

The Arab Organisation for Administrative Development should sponsor and provide the technical platform for this forum, the delegates said while calling upon all Arab NGOs to fund this forum.

Underlining the need for drawing up comprehensive guidelines for organising the NGOs, the participants said this could be taken as a reference while passing legislation regulating the work and powers of the NGOs.

They called for convening a meeting of the Arab NGOs in Khartoum to help ease the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and counterbalance the heavy presence of foreign relief organisations in the area.

"Emergency assistance is the most effective way to promote peace and security and end the conflict in Darfur."

The communique urged Arab NGOs to have a unified standard to evaluate the performance of voluntary organisations in Arab and Muslim countries.

Over 200 participants representing 90 organisations from around the Arab world attended the sessions.
Union of NGOs in Arab states urged

Photo: Othman al-Zubayr from Sudan and representatives of Qatar, Rashed Khalifa al-Khalifa and Dr Nuzad Abdul Rahman al-Hiti, at the closing session of the forum at the Sheraton yesterday (Gulf Times)

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