Under the auspices of HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani, the 47th Session of the General Assembly Meeting of the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization (ARCO) started Monday in Doha.
Organised by Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS), the two-day meeting is attended by presidents, secretaries-general, and representatives of the Arab Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, as well as observers from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Organszation of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Standing Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, the Muslim World League, the Arab Organization for Administrative Development (ARADO), the Islamic Committee of the International Crescent (ICIC), and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.
The opening ceremony was attended by HE the Minister of State for International Cooperation Lolwah bint Rashid AlKhater, ARCO Secretary-General Dr Saleh bin Hamad al-Tuwaijri, Saudi Red Crescent Authority (SRCA) chairman of the 46th Session Dr Jalal bin Mohamed al-Owaisi, and QRCS president and chairman of the 47th session Yousef bin Ali al-Khater.
Al-Khater appreciated the guests’ gathering to address humanitarian challenges and aspirations of the region, emphasising Qatar’s contributions to any efforts and events concerned with humanitarian crises and development issues both regionally and internationally. She highlighted the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5), held in Qatar in March 2023.
On the sidelines of the meeting Monday, ARCO honoured the winners of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Medal: Dr Sami Al-Khasawneh from Jordan National Red Crescent Society (JNRCS) and Dr Musaed Al-Enezi from Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society (KRCS), and the winner of Rufaida Al-Aslamiya Medal: Mahmoud al-Asoud from JNRCS. Dr Saleh al-Tuwaijri presented an honorary shield from ARCO to Al-Khater in appreciation of her participation and support for the 47th Session.
After the opening of the “Humanitarian Artists” exhibition, the Day 1 agenda covered performance reports, 46th General Assembly resolutions follow-up, the humanitarian situation in Arab countries (with a special focus on Sudan, Syria, and Somalia), and the IFRC Support Mobilization Project.
