We love Mondays!

The British Pop band, The Boomtown Rats, had a hit with the song ‘I don’t like Mondays’. But even though we all woke up in the early hours, to get from our various locations to the Central London conference centre last Monday before 9am, it was still a Monday to love. Because last Monday, we had the chance to communicate face-to-face with humanitarian organisations in Gaza.

The day after Valentine’s day, (shall we call it Pale-ntine’s day?!) marked the first of The Humanitarian Forum’s video link conferences: bringing together local and international actors in the UK, Gaza and Qatar.

The reason we were so excited and motivated by such an event, is because it represented such a great opportunity for people under the siege to be seen, heard and taken seriously. They were recognised as part of the solution, not part of the problem. In the different rooms - in Doha, London and Gaza -everyone felt ready to search for a new alternative solution to the lack of communication with Gazan people and Gazan humanitarian organisations.

We heard the message from Gaza. It was loud, clear and to the point. ‘We can do it, because we have the knowhow. Consider us as valuable partners, from the time of creating the proposal for a project to the time of delivering such a programme.’

What made us all so excited and motivated was witnessing the hope in our colleagues’ eyes, the passion and determination in their voices; the spirit of resilience created by being together and facing problems jointly.

Such an alternative way of communication by The Humanitarian Forum was a new opportunity for the forgotten voices to be heard by others. It helped us all see Gaza as a source of the solution, not a base of extremism, radicalism and terrorism. If we really want to fight such ‘isms’, we have to – all of us – plant a new ‘TREE’: of Trust, Respect, Engagement and Empowerment.
If we plant those seeds - in Gaza or in any vulnerable, marginalised, depressed community - we will be able to bring from amongst them both the ideas, and the leaders to put the ideas into practice. Not only to sort out the local problems, but also to find a solution to our global problems.

It’s an open invitation to everyone: to come together and to start to listen so we can understand others. Because listening means consideration, accommodation and partnership, and giving up disregard alienation, marginalisation and polarisation.

Every person at the meeting came out highly motivated – because we felt that we all shared some common ground – the value of our ‘TREE’.

We hope to double the number of organisations at our next conference call and hope to receive your ideas for a better future, not only for Gaza but for other communities.
To have your say on Gaza, please visit our online forums.
You can read more about The Forum in Gaza here.

Stemming the tide of unrest in The Balkans

This region is one of the world’s most culturally rich, highly civilised areas, enjoying a multiplicity of faith and language, and a diversity of culture.
With this in mind, The Humanitarian Forum decided to explore this wealth of knowledge, to highlight its great value as an asset to humanity. The Humanitarian Forum’s visit to Macedonia last week strengthened this view, that these riches should be brought to the international community.
When Muslims, Christians and Jews, ethnic Albanians, Macedonians and others, come together, you can see that there is a lot of common ground between them. And they bring the hope that together they can all build a stronger foundation for a better future and a safer Europe.
The energy shown by those groups during the our visit has left us deeply touched; their message is one of of peace, bridge building and looking for a better future for all.
With our experience and resources in the international community, we can help to pave the way and lay the foundation for an innovative, entrepreneurial solution, which we need not only for the Balkans itself, but to add to the mosaic of international partnership.
This spirit is not new. We’re simply highlighting and facilitating the existing role of the people in this area, taking into account the expertise and status of the newly emerging states. Our meeting in April will enable them to highlight the problems facing civil society, and to propose solutions for them. Our role should be to bridge the gaps between them as well as to let the international community listen to them and support their vital work, welcoming these new players who can enrich and advance the global civil society sector as a whole.
We are inviting partners from the Balkans and internationally help cement these relations and find a better prospect for the future. Our responsibility is to discover – together – the new pioneers of the 21st century form the Balkans as well as other regions.
Let us share our thoughts, exchange views and information, and support such initiatives for the betterment of developing a stronger civil society movement in the region which can include everyone.
We have witnessed too many wars over the last three decades, which have claimed the lived of hundreds of thousands, and caused the forced migration of millions. We need to learn how to replace the process of war with a future built on peace.