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Volcano fails to stop Macedonia conference
Despite grounded flights, The Humanitarian Forum brings together organisations across the region.
The Humanitarian Forum turned a potential disaster into a triumph last week, as the chaos caused by the Iceland volcano failed to stop the A HOPE for the Balkans conference in Skopje, Macedonia.
Despite the fact that several members, including the THF secretariat were stranded as flights were cancelled, the conference was attended by more than forty representatives from regional and international organisations. Dr Hany El Banna, who was in Nairobi prior to the conference, flew to Istanbul and then travelled ten hours by car with colleague Husseyin Oruc (of IHH in Turkey) to be there in time.
Conference calls were quickly organised to involve the international members of the steering committee, but the workshop elements of the event went ahead as planned, and a lively and inclusive discussion ensued between participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, and Serbia, to name but a few.
The conference discussed the needs and challenges facing the Balkans' civil society, and there was a strong desire for setting up a Humanitarian Forum in the region. Many participants commented that this was the first opportunity they had had to work with other groups in this way, with a complete mix of religious and ethnic backgrounds working together to find solutions. One group leader stressed: ‘This is the first time in our lives we've come together like this.'
We are looking forward to extending and building on this promising start to working in the Balkans. The level of enthusiasm, passion and dedication in civil society is unmistakeable and very encouraging. Over the next few months, we will be looking at how to facilitate online and offline cooperation, resources and training in the Balkans, and how to empower civil society groups to create a region-wide, inclusive, diverse and dynamic network.
The Presidents Pages: Dr Hany El Banna's blogspot on A HOPE FOR the Balkans
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