Doha, November 03 (QNA) - Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), in cooperation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has organized a workshop and roundtable discussion on humanitarian diplomacy.
Under the title "Humanitarian Diplomacy: Sharing Experience and Building Collaborative Action", a two-day regional workshop was held, with the participations of humanitarian diplomacy specialists from Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies, heads of IFRC delegations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, representatives of humanitarian partners, and officials from ICRC’s regional delegation and representation mission in Qatar.
On the first day, the sessions discussed mapping and building knowledge, capacity, and expertise in humanitarian diplomacy. The second day sessions focused on sharing humanitarian diplomacy insights among the components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
In his opening remarks, Secretary-General of QRCS, Faisal Mohamed Al Emadi said: "Here in Qatar, we deeply believe in dialogue, cooperation, and solidarity. Over the years, Qatar has been a strong advocate for humanitarian diplomacy and for building bridges among nations, institutions, and communities. QRCS works every single day to translate this vision into practice through our relief missions, development programs, and contribution to international humanitarian forums."
He revealed arrangements in progress with partners to draft a Universal Charter for Humanitarian Diplomacy, an initiative aimed at creating a global framework for effective humanitarian diplomacy, promoting dedicated engagement worldwide, and encouraging respect for human values, towards the ultimate goal of making the world a better and safer place for everyone to live.
"The world needs more humanitarian diplomacy, not as a slogan, but as an everyday practice," added Al Emadi.
QRCS and IFRC co-organized a roundtable discussion on "Humanitarian Diplomacy: Principled Engagement for Long-Term Impact", with two panel discussions on how principled humanitarian diplomacy, though inherently challenging and politically sensitive, can generate both immediate humanitarian access and durable impacts, as well as reflections about concrete tools, field experience, and the evolving norms that shape this work.
The event saw high-level participation from numerous government, diplomatic, humanitarian, and international organizations along with ambassadors and members
of the foreign diplomatic missions in Qatar.
The roundtable meeting sought to reinforce principled humanitarian diplomacy as a viable and essential method of engagement with all parties to conflict, for improved protection of civilians; stimulate critical reflection on the long-term outcomes of humanitarian engagement, and its relevance in today’s constrained humanitarian landscape; promote collaborative soft-law approaches, as innovative tools to enhance humanitarian outcomes; and foster inter-organizational dialogue and synergy between actors, including around shared values of neutrality, impartiality, and humanity.
During the opening ceremony, Al Emadi explained that the meeting looked at humanitarian diplomacy not as a theoretical concept, but rather as a practical and principled approach that helps protect civilians, ensure access to affected people, and establish more equitable and mutually integrated relations among humanitarian key players, diplomats, and decision-makers.
According to him, humanitarian diplomacy was no longer a secondary option; it has become a strategic necessity as important as field action itself. It is the tool that opens up blocked channels, builds bridges of trust between conflicting parties, and puts humanity back at the heart of both political and humanitarian decision-making.
Al Emadi noted, "The State of Qatar realized early on that it is important to support humanitarian diplomacy as a central pillar of its foreign policy. By acting as a mediator in many crises, from Afghanistan to Sudan, and from Gaza to Ukraine, the State of Qatar has demonstrated that humanitarian dialogue can penetrate political deadlock and create hope when despair prevails. As an active member of the International RCRC Movement, QRCS has institutionalized humanitarian diplomacy as a tool to enhance access and protection and consolidate our role as a bridge between nations, not just an aid provider. Humanitarian diplomacy is not an abstract slogan; it is a responsible practice inspired by the underlying principles of international humanitarian law".
In her speech, Ms. Al-Saadi stated, "The State of Qatar has always been a leading country in the field of humanitarian diplomacy, thanks to its pivotal role in coordinating humanitarian efforts, supporting international relief, and building national and regional capacity. This roundtable discussion on humanitarian diplomacy is a further step towards improving crisis response by launching practical initiatives, strengthening partnerships, and bolstering capacity, which would consolidate the effectiveness and sustainability of humanitarian work".
Fort his part, Director of Humanitarian Diplomacy and Communications at IFRC, Dylan Winder pointed out, "As we all know, in crisis contexts across the world, the space of humanitarian action is shrinking, and the long-recognized fundamental humanitarian principles are under pressure. Examples unfortunately abound of instances in which our humanitarian access is blocked or challenged, our staff and volunteers injured and killed.
"Humanitarian diplomacy allows us to bring a principled, human-centered voice into political spaces, and to ensure that decisions taken in rooms like this one translate into real impact for people in need.
"Humanitarian diplomacy is a collective effort," he added.
In conclusion, the participants issued a number of important recommendations, including the need to respect humanitarian principles, especially the principle of neutrality, to unify the voice through a practical and diplomatic forum, to adopt a different approach to preventive diplomacy through scenario planning, the importance of dialogue in promoting hope through peace conferences, to emphasize the role of the media in alleviating fatigue and stress during humanitarian emergencies, to urge the protection of the safety of journalists, medical personnel and humanitarian workers, and to spread awareness of humanitarian principles through education. (QNA)