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Promoting Awareness of the Role of the UK British Community in Supporting Victims of the Syrian Conflict
Thursday 14 September 2017
The Islamic Cultural Centre in collaboration with the UK Home Office & Foreign Commonwealth Office held a community engagement evening to promote awareness of the role of the UK British Community in supporting victims of the Syrian Conflict through appropriate channels. The event was attended by over 200 representatives from civil organisations and Islamic Centres and Mosques in The UK and covered serveral topics from the role of The British Government in supporting those affected by the war to selecting trustworthy and authentic to support victims of the war financially and socially.
The event was opened by Head of Administration Mr. Feizal Muttur who welcomed the guests and panelists setting the tone for the event. Director General of The Centre Dr. Ahmad Al Dubayan hoped that through the event the audience can become more informed about the situation in Syria and what recommendations the officials could put across to ensure the community can foster better mechanisms in assisting refugees and contribute in the humanitarian aid.
Dr Ahmad Al Dubayan - Director General - Islamic Cultural Centre
Dr. Al Dubayan highlighted the role of the Islamic Cultural Centre in supporting refugees such as the latest initiative of the Centre in partnership with the Joseph Interfaith Foundation where courses and programmes have been designed and initiated for refugees to help them integrate and understand society whilst providing educational and network facilities for them. Dr. Al Dubayan stressed that through such platforms refugees can become together with the wider fabric of the community and help create harmony within society.
Mr Feizal Muttur - Head of Finance & Administration - Islamic Cultural Centre
Dr. Al Dubayan also commented on the importance of encouraging people to donate towards refugees and displaced Syrians through registered and authentic charities as this will ensure that donations reach those who are in need of relief.
Raffaello Pantucci - Director of International Security Studies at RUSI
Raffaello Pantucci - Director of International Security Studies at The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies briefed the audience with a timeline of the Syrian Conflict over the past few years. Within Pantucci's speech the attendees were presented with an analytical account of the Conflict and the roles of the various actors and recent outcomes. This paved the way for a better understanding for the community leaders to apprehend the conflict and appreciate the need to support the viticms through apprioate channels for the safety and welfare of all stakeholders.
Katherine Wilde - Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Camilla Sugdens of the Department for International Development gave an informative account of the humanitarian missions deployed by the United Kingdom in support of the casualties of the Conflict. Sugdens mentioned how The UK has provided 5 million people in the conflict with clean water, facilitated sanitation and hygiene support for 3.4 Million and provided schooling for over 351,000 students.
Camilla Sugdens - Department for International Development
This was then followed by Katherine Wilde from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office who delivered a presentation where she highlighted the Governments policy on the Conflict and their aim which is to find solutions to cater for the long term wellbeing and sustenance of the State. Wilde highlighted how the community can support victims of the crisis by sending materials from clothes to educational resources as there are alternatives and more proactive ways to support the victims compared to providing financial support. Wilde mentioned how there is a current demand for community leaders to start educational courses for refugees to learn English and mix with their community. In this a praise was put towards the Islamic Cultural Centre for their latest project in supporting refugees in partnership with the Joseph interfaith Network.
Nick Donaldson - Head of Faith Charities - The Charity Commission
Nick Donaldson Head of Faith Charities engagement at The Charity Commission spoke about the role of the Commission in governing charities to ensure that they comply with standards and regulations. This will enable charities to support refugees and those vulnerable in an effective manner. In his speech Donaldson commented on the risks and challenges the Commission has been facing which include diversion of funds to insecure or unlawful agencies. In a recent research it was estimated that over £100 Million pounds was donated to relief causes by the British Muslim Community last Ramadan which reflects on the generosity of the Muslim community and their desire to support relief projects. In this Donaldson strongly endorsed that donations should be made through registered and authentic charities to minimise levels of fraud and ensure that the donated funds reach where they should be.
The event was proceeded by a Question & Answer session in which the audience interacted with the panelists and cleared any questions or concerned they had addressed.
Links to Arabic Press covering this event:
https://garbnews.net/news/s/76127
