Global partnership is essential to meet disaster reduction goals, a senior official said at the opening of the 5th edition of the Civil Defence Exhibition and Conference, which was held in Doha, Qatar, yesterday (November 2).

The event will run until November 4, at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of state for defence affairs Staff Maj General Hamad bin Ali Athiyya; Minister of municipality Sheikh Abdul Rahman bin Khalifa; Minister of business and trade Ahmed bin Jassim bin Muhammed Al Thani; Minister of environment Ahmed bin Aaamir Al Humaidi; Minister of transport Jassim Saif Al Sulaiti; Chief of Emiri Guard Hazza bin Khalil Al Shahwani; ambassadors of some sisterly and friendly countries; delegations of Arab countries; guests of the State and directors of several departments of the Ministry of Interior.
 
After touring the pavilions of the exhibition, the Prime Minister headed to the conference hall to attend the inauguration ceremony of the conference on the theme ‘Sustainable Development and Disaster Reduction’ where the audience watched a film on climate change and its consequences that may lead to risks and disasters, said a statement.

Delivering the speech on behalf of Qatar, the director general of Qatar Civil Defence, Staff Brig Abdullah Muhammed Al Suwaidi, said: “This conference is held in the light of global concern on disaster reduction as highlighted by Sendai International Conference on Disaster Reduction, which was held in March in Japan with the participation of a wide range of countries and concerned international organisations.”

“In addition to this, this year witnessed the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and the launch of the post-2015 phase and developing a framework until 2030 and all of this demonstrate the importance of such conferences and work together to reduce disasters and reduce risk,” he said.   

He also said that the sustainable development is a development that promotes prosperity and economic opportunities and increased social welfare and environmental protection, which offer the best way to improve the lives of people through the achievement of cooperation in solving humanitarian, cultural, social and economic dimensions of global problems and to promote respect for human rights and to encourage basic freedom for all without discrimination.

He added: “There are global warnings on the risks of climate change and the risks related to this change are increasing, which urges us to find out urgent solutions before it is too late. According to the existing rates, there is an increase in emissions of gases contributing to high temperatures as well as the world is witnessing the effects of climate change, starting from the raise of sea level and the melting of the ice and ending with the strange weather patterns and therefore, the sustainability is an important part in facing climate change.”

“The civil defence conference is a serious step towards achieving global partnership in the field of disaster reduction starting from the national role for the State of Qatar and its social responsibility at regional and international levels and for this reason, we wish that the conference will achieve its targeted goals,” concluded Al Suwaidi.

Delivering a speech in the inaugural session of the conference, chairman of the UN International Parliament Union Sabir Choudhary, said that this is a very important year for the UN in the terms of the international relationships and operations as in the last March, the Sendai conference for disaster reduction was held in Japan and during the last month, another conference was held in New York, US, and there is a discussion in Paris, France, on climate change in coming December with the participation of heads of several states who will sign on the protocol for sustainable development.

Choudhary added: “When we think, we can find out that these three conferences are interrelated and interlinked each other and they are of high importance because without disaster reduction, we cannot achieve sustainable development and I consider this conference as one of the most important conferences held because all are for achieving a single goal of sustainable development, stated Sabir Choudhari.”

“At the international level, it's not about disaster recovery only, but also in the prevention of risk as well, and how we reduce the risks through disasters and crisis management, and I hope that this conference will focus on such topics,” he said.

“In the Arab world, there is increasing awareness in environmental matters, and this conference is part of this process. I think that the Arab League is making great efforts in this matter and has a policy and protocols for disaster recovery, and more we concert and coordinate the efforts, we will be more efficient to cope with disasters and to go ahead in this field,” Choudhary concluded.

Prime Minister and Minister of Interior witnessed on the sidelines of Civil Defence Exhibition opening, signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Interior represented by the General Directorate of Civil Defense and the University of Central Lancashire, UK. – TradeArabia News Service