Qatar to 'Help Raise' Centre of Excellence for Relief Work

Doha, November 27 (QNA) - Qatar will help in establishing a proposed Centre of Excellence that will set benchmarks in all aspects of quality, standards and capabilities of Military and Civil Defence Assets (MCDA) in response to humanitarian relief operations, HE Assistant Foreign Minister for Follow Up Affairs Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi said here Sunday. Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) on the first day of the three-day International Conference on the HopeFor Initiative, HE Al Rumaihi said, "Qatar will help raising this Centre for Excellence and support it financially, provide experts from government bodies, Qatar University and other institutions. "The centre could engage at the regional level with bodies like the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Co-operation), the Arab League and maybe ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to co-ordinate all aspects of the relief work in the Middle East and South West Asia region." Over 130 participants from more than 60 countries and international organisations have assembled in Doha to share experience, discuss approaches to co-ordinate relief work with MCDA and ways of improving humanitarian response capacities in complex and high risk environments affected by natural disasters. One of the key proposals made today to enhance efficiency and effectiveness was qualifying humanitarian groups based on certification like the ISO 9000. Consultative Group on Military and Civil Defence Assets Chairman HE Ambassador Toni Frisch, speaking to QNA said, "Just as skilled professionals require certificates to ply their trade, humanitarian relief work should also have a certification. As of now anyone can do relief work. We have to stop this. "This is not good for the reputation of professional institutions and organisations doing humanitarian work. I am convinced we need to have certification. It would be good to have clear guiding principles for the military and other organisations doing humanitarian work and Qatar could be one of the places to do this." In his address to the gathering, earlier Sunday morning, Ambassador Frisch said, "The NATO, military and crisis teams should apply Operational Capability Concept (OCC) to enhance credibility of MCDA and assure of rescue teams engaged in relief work. Why don't we start this process together?" (QNA)