Aiming to equally support and empower vulnerable individuals and communities, the Qatar Red Crescent was established in 1978 as the first charitable volunteer organization in Qatar. The Qatar Red Crescent did its best in resolving the Afghan refugee crisis and kept an unignorable presence in the country before, during, and after the crisis.
Qatar Red Crescent Activities Before the Crisis
The Qatar Red Crescent was keen on supporting Afghanistan before the refugee crisis, as the aid it provided to the country amounted to around $10 million, which was used to implement dozens of humanitarian projects. It also provided various types of assistance to Afghanistan, the most important of which are:
- July 2014 | A relief program for the Waziristan displaced people:
In July 2014, a conflict broke out in Waziristan, Pakistan, which resulted in the displacement of one million people from the region, over 95,000 of whom arrived in Khost and about 17,000 in Paktika, Afghanistan. The Qatar Red Crescent was among the first organisations to rush to help those affected by the conflict. It quickly launched a relief program to help them, undertaking a periodic assessment of their needs to provide more appropriate interventions in the most urgent relief aspects. - September 2014 | Aid to floods’ victims:
The Qatar Red Crescent rushed to support and provide the necessary relief aid to those affected by a flood disaster in April 2014. The organization then redistributed a new batch of aid on September 3 of the same year. The Qatar Red Crescent cooperated with the Afghan Red Crescent to identify the beneficiary families, purchasing the supplies required to improve their living conditions, and providing their basic life needs to ensure their protection and preserve their dignity. - October 2016 | Opening development projects in Afghanistan:
On October 16, 2016, the Qatar Red Crescent mission visited Afghanistan to inaugurate and follow up on the work of developmental projects funded by the organization in the fields of water, education, and health care. - September 2020 | Third phase of Little Hearts program:
The Qatar Red Crescent Society concluded the third phase of the Little Hearts program in Afghanistan, after performing 60 cardiac catheter procedures for children suffering from congenital heart defects. The operations were performed at the Amiri Medical Complex and the Global Hospital in Kabul in cooperation with the Afghan Red Crescent. The total cost of the program was $150,000, which was raised from philanthropists in Qatar. - March 2021 | Warm Winter Project:
Qatar Red Crescent carried out the 2020-2021 Warm Winter Project in Afghanistan in cooperation with its representative office and local partners, distributing food and other types of aid to the poorest families in Logar and Paktika. The total cost reached $181,000 including food baskets to each family containing 55 kg of flour and cooking oil, in addition to 4 blankets. - June 2021 | Ebsar initiative:
Qatar Red Crescent launched the Ebsar (Sight) initiative for eye surgeries for patients with cataracts in Afghanistan. The project aimed to conduct 1,300 cataract and IOL surgeries after examining 2,300 cases in the provinces of Kunar, Laghman, Bamyan, Ghor, Kunduz, and Paktia. The project took one full year to complete and included conducting medical examinations and surgeries, dispensing free medications and eyeglasses, in addition to implementing community awareness activities and programs, and distributing educational publications about eye diseases and their prevention. - June 2021 | Cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross:
The Qatar Red Crescent discussed with the International Committee of the Red Cross the renewal of logistical cooperation agreements in Afghanistan and other countries. The two parties talked about launching a unified channel to support their partners, while welcoming cooperation and communication through the Qatar Red Crescent office in Afghanistan or the organisation’s headquarters in Doha. - June 2021 | Training community midwives:
The Qatar Red Crescent launched a project to train community midwives in remote and deprived areas of Afghanistan. The project is implemented in partnership with the Afghan Charitable Society, the Society of Health Promotion and Development Foundation, and in coordination with the Afghan Ministry of Health. The project’s total cost is estimated at over $490,000 and aims to serve over 84,000 beneficiaries annually, by training 24 community midwives in remote areas in the provinces of Badakhshan, Bamyan, Ghazni, Zabul, Kunduz, Wardak, Faryab, and Nuristan.
Qatar Red Crescent Efforts During the Refugee Crisis
The Qatar Red Crescent went the extra mile during the refugee crisis to help carry out many activities and cooperated with various institutions in order to provide the best possible support through efforts such as:
- Establishing a field hospital at Al Udeid Air Base.
- Launching an urgent relief response by activating the Emergency Information Management Center and collecting information in coordination with the Afghan Red Crescent. Faisal Mohammed Al-Emadi, Executive Director of the Relief and International Development Sector at the Qatar Red Crescent, stressed that the organization’s teams closely followed developments in the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
- Allocating 1 million Qatari Riyal (275 thousand US dollars) from the Disaster Response Fund to carry out the initial humanitarian response, in parallel to a donation campaign to provide necessary and emergency needs, especially in health care, food, and emergency shelter based on situation assessment reports received from the field and from the concerned international organizations.
- Participating in sending aid flights to Afghanistan conveying food and medical aid.
- Holding a strategic dialogue with the US Red Cross aiming at exchanging experiences in the field of humanitarian and relief work. Services to provide vaccines and support to Afghan refugees were also discussed.
- Carrying out a project to respond to urgent needs in Afghanistan in cooperation with the Kuwait Red Crescent. The project, which cost $548,000, benefited more than 31 thousand people.
- Conducting a project to treat eye diseases in Afghanistan in partnership with the Afghan Educational and Charitable Foundation. About 10,000 patients benefited from the project, with a total cost of $162,000.
- Cooperating with the Afghan Red Crescent in distributing 550 food parcels to 3,850 beneficiaries as part of the Ramadan Iftar project.
- Participating in round table discussions with diplomatic representatives and international organizations to discuss the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
- Cooperating with the International Organization for Migration with the aim of providing community services and mental support to Afghans in Qatar.
Through such efforts, Qatar Red Crescent has provided continuous and tireless support that demonstrated its commitment to the Afghan people’s wellbeing.
