Amiirka waddanka Qatar Shiikh Tamim bin Xamad Al Thani ayaa shalay ku dhawaaqay in waddanka Filipiin iyo degaanada Puntland ee Somalia lacag gurmad ah iyo gargaar loo aruururiyo maalinta talaada ah ee bishu tahay 19/11-2013.
The Secretary General of Qatar Red Crescent, Dr Mohammed Ghanem Al Ali Al Madeed (centre), at a media briefing to announce the ‘Qatar Solidarity Day with the people of Somalia and Philippines’ at the Diplomatic Club yesterday. With him are the Ambassador of the Philippines Crescente R Relacion (left) and Ambassador to Somalia Omar Idris. Salim Matramkot
DOHA: Qatar will observe a Solidarity Day on Tuesday to collect donations for the aid of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines and people affected by floods in Somalia.
Titled ‘Qatar Solidarity Day with People of the Philippines and Somalia’ the donation drive will be held with the support of local charity organisations.
Qatar Red Crescent yesterday urged individuals and organisations to hold events to mobilise donations and hand it to charity organisations on Tuesday.
“We invite the government and private institutions, schools and everyone else to join the campaign. They can organise different events to collect donations,” said Dr Mohamed bin Al Ali Al Madid, President of Qatar Red Crescent, addressing a press conference here yesterday.
People should begin collecting donations from today (Sunday) itself so they can hand it on Tuesday,” he further said.
Several charity organisations, including Qatar Charity, Red Crescent, Sheikh Eid Charity, Sheikh Jassim Charity, Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah Foundation for Humanitarian Services (RAF) and Al Asmakh Charity will be supporting the campaign.
Also a live television programme will be telecast in English and Arabic on Tuesday as part of the campaign. The name of the television channel has not been announced yet.
The Philippines has started to get more international aid as people try to recover from a devastating typhoon which killed more than 4,460 and left hundreds of thousands homeless.
Crescente Relacion, Philippines Ambassador to Qatar, who attended the press conference said: “We thank the Qatari people and expatriate communities for the donations and solidarity. Some 80 tonnes of relief items collected in Qatar have already reached the Philippines.”
The death toll would rise in a few days after all the deaths have been counted, he said adding: “We first need to bring life in the affected areas to normalcy and then start the reconstruction work.”
Around 300 people are feared dead after a cyclone and heavy floods hit Somalia’s Puntland region. Many fishermen are missing and feared dead, according to Omar Idriss, Somali Ambassador to Qatar.
“Many people have died and more had gone missing. We thank Qatar for its initiative to help flood victims in Somalia,” he said.
The peninsula
Puntlandi