Gulf Times

UNHCR, QC sign pacts to support displaced people

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UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and Qatar Charity (QC) have signed three agreements worth $4mn in support of UNHCR operations in Iraq, Bangladesh and Yemen.

These agreements were signed at the QC headquarte­rs in Doha by Khaled Khalifa, UNHCR’s regional representa­tive to the Gulf Co-operation Council countries, and Faisal Rashid alFehaida, COO of Qatar Charity.

The agreements support UNHCR’s projects focused on providing much-needed assistance to internally displaced Iraqis and Yemenis, in addition to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, a statement notes.

The first agreement focuses on providing around 80,000 vulnerable Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh with essential assistance for shelter, energy and water and sanitation, with total contributi­on of $2mn.

The ceremony also covered an

agreement worth $1mn to provide long-term shelter rehabilita­tion support for 300 families (approximat­ely 1,800 individual­s) of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq.

An additional agreement was signed based on which Qatar Charity will contribute $1mn to provide rental assistance for returnee families and communitie­s in Yemen, in the form of cash grants. Around 12,600 individual­s in Yemen will benefit from this project.

“UNHCR highly appreciate­d its long partnershi­p with QC, which plays a vital role towards supporting our ability to respond to the most pressing humanitari­an needs of internally displaced persons in Iraq and Yemen, and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh,” said Khalifa.

“Collaborat­ing with UNHCR allows us to diversify and strengthen our support of programmes focused on improving the situation of refugees and IDPs,” added al-Fehaida.

UNHCR and Qatar Charity have a long track record of co-operation in support of displaced people over many years. Since 2011, Qatar Charity has provided over $34mn to UNHCR’s programmes, and has delivered essential humanitari­an assistance to more than 1.5mn refugees and internally displaced persons in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Somalia and Bangladesh.

In December 2018, UNHCR and QC launched the QC4HCR multi-year initiative for five years, which aims to mobilise an annual contributi­on of $30mn to fund UNHCR’s programmes globally.

 ??  ?? Khaled Khalifa and Faisal Rashid al-Fehaida after signing the agreements.
Khaled Khalifa and Faisal Rashid al-Fehaida after signing the agreements.

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