ID :
41088
Fri, 01/16/2009 - 20:04
Auther :

MINISTRY FORMS NETWORK TO FACILITATE HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS

PUTRAJAYA, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- The Foreign Ministry will form a permanent
network with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to ease the process of
channelling financial and humanitarian aid to victims of war and catastrophe.

Minister Dr Rais Yatim said the move would enable the ministry to
collaborate directly with the related NGOs, such as Mercy Malaysia, Yayasan
Salam Malaysia and the Malaysian Red Crescent Society in the event of a
catastrophe.

This was also to better coordinate donations for the victims, he said.

"A joint committee will also be created to deal with problems arising from a
crisis, like the one in Gaza, and in other places in dire need of humanitarian
aid," he told reporters after opening the ministry's publicity programme on the
international humanitarian efforts, here Friday.

Also present were Mercy Malaysia vice-president Dr Ahmad Faizal Perdaus,
Yayasan Salam Malaysia trustee Ahmad A. Talib and Palestinian ambassador to
Malaysia Abdelaziz Aboughosh.

Mercy stands for Malaysian Medical Relief Society, a volunteer relief
organization with the objective to provide medical and humanitarian services at
home and abroad. Yayasan Salam Malaysia, on the other hand, is a nonprofit
organisation formed to promote the spirit of volunteer service among Malaysians


Rais also presented a donation of RM50,000 (US$13,972) to Yayasan Salam
Malaysia.

On Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's six-day visit to Bahrain, Qatar
and the United Arab Emirates, starting Sunday, Rais said, the prime minister
would hold discussions with his counterparts on the Middle East issue, in
particular the conflict in Gaza.

He said that Malaysia was hoping that the Arab countries could be more
united to stop Israel's attacks on Palestine.

"As long as there is no real unity among Islamic countries in the Middle
East, Israel will continue to disregard multilateral decisions made by various
bodies," he said.

He added that the world would lose faith in the United Nations if the
Isreali attacks on Gaza were to persist.
-- BERNAMA



X