Qatar Charity (QC), in partnership with Start Network, a global consortium of nearly 100 humanitarian agencies, is hosting an in-person Hub Fellowship Learning Session and Empowered Local Leadership Training in Doha. Launched on Monday, the exercise will continue until October 2. The aim is to empower staff from local, national, and international humanitarian organisations known as hubs.
The training session focuses on enhancing the effectiveness of hub secretariats, strengthening the leadership and advocacy capacity of local hub leaders, and fostering peer-to-peer learning among hub teams.
This initiative aligns with Start Network’s mission to transform humanitarian action through innovation, fast funding, early action, and locally driven approaches, and it reflects QC's vision of empowering communities and fostering sustainable development through effective, locally led humanitarian responses.
The workshop has brought together up to 25 participants from various global hubs, including those from India, Kenya, Guatemala, Pakistan, DRC, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, South Sudan, the Philippines, and Somalia. Representatives from Start Network’s offices in Kenya, the Philippines, and the UK are also attending.
Joyce Nyaboga, senior network development adviser (design and infrastructure), said this event represents the culmination of a series of learning and workplace projects under the Hub Fellowship programme, designed to build the local capacity needed to develop and sustain hubs.
“We believe that our collaboration with Qatar Charity will significantly contribute to empowering local leadership in humanitarian response and highlight Qatar Charity’s commitment to fostering effective, locally led crisis responses.”
Speaking at opening ceremony, Mana Mohammed al-Ansari, director of Humanitarian Operations Department at QC, said the event will undoubtedly contribute to enhancing the capabilities of humanitarian workers globally and strengthening collective response to crises. It was in 2018 that Start Network welcomed QC into its membership. In 2019, Qatar Charity hosted the annual gathering of Start Network in Doha, which was attended by 87 dignitaries representing 41 member organisations, including major international and regional humanitarian NGOs.
