DUBAI, 21st March, 2017 (WAM) -- Under the patronage of Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the 14th edition of the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition, DIHAD, was inaugurated today by Ibrahim Bumelha, Cultural and Humanitarian Advisor of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, and Chairman of DIHAD Higher Committee, President of DISAB, at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Mr. Bumelha was accompanied by Dr. Mohammaed Atiq Al Falahi, Secretary-General of the Emirates Red Crescent, Helle Thorning Schmidt, CEO of Save The Children International and Former Prime Minister of Denmark, and a number of ambassadors, along with local and international dignitaries.
The theme for this year's conference is "The Impact of Crises and Disasters on Children". In an opening speech addressing an audience of international organisations and associations as well as several top notch leaders and speakers in the field, Bumelha said, "Every year, Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference and Exhibition brings together leading humanitarian agencies and organisations to convene and exchange their experiences, to discuss key humanitarian issues, to highlight the most important challenges facing crisis-stricken countries, and to improve the response of international organisations and agencies to cope with crises that keep increasing year after year, and with it come more weak and vulnerable victims, especially women and children."
"The United Arab Emirates is keen on being at the forefront of countries responding rapidly to crises and humanitarian disasters anywhere and everywhere, and to continuously alleviate the suffering of victims, refugees and displaced victims, based on the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and their brothers the Rulers of the Emirates."
Speaking on behalf of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in the Al Dhafra Region and President of the Emirates Red Crescent, Dr. Al Falahi, said, "The importance of this edition of DIHAD stems from reviewing critical issues related to children and their ability to obtain their basic rights of health, education, food, and a safe and decent life. The UAE has always acknowledged those rights and worked diligently to support and promote them through a number of initiatives aimed at child victims in various crisis-stricken countries such as Yemen, Syria and Iraq, as well as countries in Africa. Those countries are currently experiencing a famine, and a vicious spread of severe acute malnutrition."
Also commenting on DIHAD, Helle Schmidt said, "We owe it to the children of Syria, and all children in areas of armed conflict, to do everything we can to end their suffering. We have to step up now. Inaction has consequences: violence and conflict are a vicious generational cycle. To break it, we have to transform the experiences, perspectives and prospects of those who are children today and will shape world in the future."
A number of key leaders in the humanitarian field are participating in the DIHAD exhibition, including the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment, the Emirates Red Crescent, the International Humanitarian City, Dubai Care, Dubai Police, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services, the Al Jalila Foundation, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Food Programme, the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, among others.