A senior humanitarian agency official on Wednesday called for active participation of African local communities with governments and humanitarian agencies in handling humanitarian challenges.
"Despite the numerous challenges Africa currently faces, African countries and their communities will more easily meet humanitarian challenges if local communities play an active part in working out their solutions together with governments and humanitarian agencies," said Markku Niskala, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Niskala, who just returned from a visit to Myanmar, made the remarks at a speech at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held here from May 28 to 30.
"Africa faces serious threats such as the effects of climate change, the disastrous consequences of conflicts of all kind and the spread of killer diseases that need to be addressed urgently," he said.
"However, the International Federation strongly believes that we can better address current challenges and restore hope in Africa by strengthening community involvement," the official said.
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies can significantly contribute to fight against obstacles preventing development in Africa thanks to its unique network of up to 100 million volunteers worldwide coming from the same towns and villages as the people they support and speaking the same local languages.
"There is now clear evidence that the community-based approach involving our volunteers does work and we are ready to team up with African governments, international donors and other humanitarian organizations to further strengthen our programs," he added.
Source:Xinhua
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