Unity ‘key to Bahrain’s handling of coronavirus’

BAHRAIN’S response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been underpinned with voluntary and philanthropic impulses, says Royal Humanitarian Foundation secretary general Dr Mustafa Al Sayed.

He said the kingdom has won the praise of global bodies such as the World Health Organisation for its management of the Covid-19 challenges.

“Very often, we are focused on the way we respond to the pandemic in terms of economic and health challenges. Yet, for a society to heal and to thrive after a crisis, it is important to underpin the very important government efforts with voluntary and philanthropic impulses,” Dr Al Sayed told a webinar on ‘Living With Covid: Surviving the Pandemic” held by the Indian Community Relief Fund, a community body that supports relief work for the Indian diaspora in Bahrain.

Speaking of how the foundation created and used the platform of Feena Khair, its programme to raise and disburse funds for the needy who were most affected by the crisis, Dr Al Sayed said that philanthropic leadership was a key pillar of a society’s response to crisis.

Guidance

In Bahrain, this has come through the guidance of His Majesty King Hamad and the foundation’s board of trustees chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, he said.

“Feena Khair was a project that helped tap the goodness in every citizen and resident of Bahrain regardless of their nationality.

“The expatriate community contributed as much as their Bahraini brothers and sisters and showed that unity was a key in responding to a crisis,” Dr Al Sayed said.

“We have accepted children’s donations of as little as BD1 with as much gratitude as the millions given by corporate giants because each contribution is valued for the thought and feeling it symbolises and not the value.”

The Feena Khair Project raised more than $100 million for charitable responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and helped support the most vulnerable in Bahrain including widows, orphans, the destitute, micro-businesses and families facing the death of loved ones and breadwinners, Dr Al Sayed said.

 

Source: http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/861557/Unity-%E2%80%98key-to-Bahrain%E2%80%99s-handling-of-coronavirus%E2%80%99

 

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