ERC, SOS Children's Villages International discuss enhancing partnership

ABU DHABI, 10th February, 2015 (WAM) -- The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) discussed with the SOS Children's Village International ways to enhance cooperation and humanitarian partnership, join forces in exploring more avenues of care and ensure protection of children in a number of regions and areas.

This came when Rashid Mubarak Al Mansouri, deputy secretary-general for local affairs at the ERC, received recently Nicole Nassar, Managing Director of the SOS Children's Villages International Gulf Area Office, at the ERC headquarters in Dubai in the presence of Austrian ambassador Peter Elsner-Mackay.

The two sides brought to attention the fact that millions of displaced and homeless children around the world are suffering from repercussions of displacement, a situation that requires rallying humanitarian efforts to address the threats they face and meet their needs of food, health, education, safety and housing. The parties agreed on setting in place a mechanism for communication and coordination between the two sides in this regard. They also discussed ways to ensure better protection for children who are victims of catastrophes and disasters, enhancing mechanisms of mutual coordination, exchanging expertise and information regarding projects and programmes implemented by the two sides in the field of ensuring childhood protection.

Nassar highlighted that the ERC exerted efforts in order to alleviate the victims' suffering and to ensure a better life for them, hailing the initiatives of the philanthropic body and its relentless striving to help the underprivileged societies as well as dealing with repercussions of catastrophic challenges such as poverty, hunger, diseases and epidemics, which claims the lives of millions of people.

She added that the immensely good reputation of the ERC encouraged the officials of the SOS Children's Villages International to pay such a visit in order to be briefed about its programmes and activities and enhance cooperation ties with it as well as implement joint projects which unify the objectives pursued by both sides.

On his part, Al Mansouri welcomed the visit, pointing out that it would open up wider horizons of constructive cooperation between the two sides in the humanitarian field. He also underscored the ERC's keenness on cementing communication and cooperation bridges with regional and global humanitarian organisations and agencies.

He reiterated that the ERC will spare no efforts to translate the agenda of the meeting into reality by enhancing partnership between the two sides.
WAM