DUBAI, United Arab Emirates--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dubai’s International Humanitarian City (IHC) represented the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul, Turkey, which commenced yesterday. WHS is a global call to action by Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon and will bring together more than 100 governments, world leaders, aid organizations, civil society, humanitarian organizations, the private sector and other partners to reaffirm solidarity with people affected by crises, to reduce human suffering and to assert their collective commitment to humanity.
The UAE’s participation at the World Humanitarian Summit reflects its commitment and active role in humanitarian aid efforts and in finding sustainable solutions to today’s humanitarian challenges. As a member organisation with a critical role in the United Nations, the IHC takes great pride in representing the UAE at the Summit, which has highlighted the country’s commitment towards innovation and partnership as central aspects of future humanitarian practices – themes that are at the centre of IHC’s mandate as the world’s largest humanitarian hub.
These commitments were presented during the Summit’s high-level roundtable sessions, where HE Moosa Al Hashemi, IHC CEO stated that: “The United Arab Emirates is committed to implementing our ‘Agenda for Humanity’ to ensure a prosperous future for all mankind.” He added: “IHC is keen to prioritize innovation, partnerships and preparedness, which are principles that also resonate with the UAE’s Dubai Plan 2021 and our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and come at a critical time in response to the increasingly challenging humanitarian landscape.”
HE Al Hashemi further underlined that IHC is committed to ensuring that policy perspectives and their implementation are tackled and initiated beyond the WHS, therefore furthering its agenda, as well as that of IHC. To this end, he announced its pledges at the Summit on behalf of the UAE to present the humanitarian world with the upcoming World Humanitarian Forum (WHF), a platform that is taking place in Dubai, in December 2016, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. This Forum will bring various players to Dubai biennial to continue the work of the World Humanitarian Summit and the UAE’s commitments to sustainable humanitarian practices.
The first cycle of Dubai’s WHF will focus on sustainable partnerships under the theme: “From Global Challenges to Grand Opportunities: Quantum Leaps in Private Sector Engagement” and tackle issues of humanitarian concern, including our readiness for natural disasters and climate change.
He concluded: “We believe that sustainable practices are central to ensuring a safer, more stable world and that responsibility should be shared with other stakeholders such as governments, the private sector, the scientific community and NGOs, making partnership an important tool for tackling humanitarian challenges.”
*Source: ME NewsWire
