The President's Pages

The Glass Ceiling

2012-01-27T10:00:00.001Z

We all know glass is a transparent material and it can let you see all the details. However, for various reasons, when we approach a glass wall we may not see it and bang our heads against it. The same can happen with a glass ceiling. We might think it’s not there and it doesn’t exist, but when we are the ones hitting it by accident, we realise it exists and it can be painful.

How about a glass ceiling in society? Do you think such a thing exists? Some people say it does and some others don’t believe such a thing exists. Myself, I’m inclined to say yes, it does exist. In such an open society, not many people are able to see a glass ceiling or to believe there is one at all. People, the economy, social life, ideas and politics move freely. Masses move and manoeuvre, however it is all done within certain limits and at different levels. If they are unhappy, the “doors” of the country are open for them and they can choose to leave to a better place where they might fit. This kind of dynamic horizontal semi-selective vertical movement allows some to believe there is no glass ceiling.

For example, in some countries, there are very few security personnel. This gives you a feeling of freedom, until you realise how many cameras are watching your footsteps and listening to your whispers. In other countries, the number of security personnel is overwhelming and this might frighten and restrict your thinking.

To come back to the point, if someone wants to climb fast or unlock any sealed doors, in my opinion, they will start feeling the glass ceiling soon enough. The glass ceiling is very selective when it comes to those that fit its culture, expertise or loyalty. We must ensure there is no glass ceiling so that change makers can do what they do best.

They say the sky is the limit, but I think it's only the beginning.

Who should run the country?

2012-01-20T10:00:00.001Z

A grassroot solution

Lately I’ve done a great deal of thinking about the role of civil society. I think I managed to come up with a solution. After I’ve told you what I think, please tell me what you think in the comments section or on Facebook. Thank you.

In my view, if we ask “who should run the country?” everyone will answer that, in a democratic society, the political party who won the election should lead the country. Looking back at the past 50 years or more we see conflicts, wars, corruption, climate change, poverty, illiteracy, pandemics, economical problems, exodus of refugees, war on terror etc. When we see this, we realise we have been giving the power of leadership to some wrong people; people who know little and talk a lot. These people are extremely clever at promoting themselves and are less realistic when it comes to building their own country. They don’t realise that the success and continuity stand in recognising and respecting the achievements of those before them and those who will come after them.

I ask you: is politics the only solution? What about the giant waiting in the sidelines, the civil sector? The civil sector has forever hovered in the background. In my opinion, the success of the country will lie on the strength of the shoulders of the civil society sector, not that of the government. After all, civil society outlasts every government.

It is up to us as individual organisations in the civil society sector to unite and cooperate, to share resources and advice, to network, guide and empower the citizens of the country. It shouldn’t be a contest for leadership; it should be a contest of citizenship. The successful civil society organisations will lead the way to save the planet and fight all the problems growing in the backyard of politics.

Inspirations

2012-01-17T16:42:00.000Z

Today it's Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's day in USA. Also today, Muhammad Ali is celebrating his 70th birthday. Let us honour them by remembering what their work brought for society.

My bleeding heart...

2012-01-16T10:00:00.000Z

I’m sure you know from the last year that my heart hasn’t stopped bleeding. The deep wound in my heart is called South Sudan. I hate to see such things happening. I hate seeing my brothers and sisters being tortured, killed and displaced in their own land in just one year after the referendum and independence from Sudan.

Sadly, this confirms my pessimistic predictions from last year. The power of authority has become more sacred than people’s lives. The strength of selfishness is higher than the gift of sharing.

In my view, we, the international community, hold the blame, because we acted without thinking of the consequences. In the past we used to say: “united North to South, Muslim to Christian”. Now, what can we say? We should be in control. Logic and wisdom should rule, however it seems that bullets and knives are ruling.

We should urge local religious and community leaders to roll their sleeves up and stitch the deep wounds in the hearts of my people of South Sudan. It is time to stop the bloodshed and the fear of torture, rape, displacement and death. Whoever was involved in the past in non-humanitarian activities should take responsibility and be held accountable. The people of South Sudan deserve justice and fairness.

In my opinion, the neighbouring countries need to take responsibility as well, because when you start a fire, you never know, it might burn your own house down.

I’m sad to see my Sudan at a standstill, even after a year. The people responsible for these atrocities need to be brought to justice. The celebration of independence should mean peace and security, not bloodshed.

Please pray for South Sudan to be more peaceful and for the international community to be wiser in order to save the lives of the South Sudanese people.

Horns in disguise?

2012-01-12T10:43:00.002Z

When I was younger, there was a very popular Western song: “You’re the devil in disguise, yes you are...” I was in the car the other day travelling from here to there and this song came on the radio, just after the news. After hearing of politics, more politics, conflict and poverty, the song made me think of parallels between devils which live amongst us and the devils in hell.

Listening to the news on the radio made me realise that the issue is not the name of the country – it can happen in any country. The issue is that everything should revolve around the people, the citizens of the country. They ought to be the real owners of any country, not the person in charge.

In the past century we have found that some governments appointed by the citizens have started dictating to their masters. In my opinion, the master of the country isn’t the president, the prime-minister, the minister or the political party. The master of any country should be the citizen. All the ones mentioned above should serve the citizen.

Presidency and Ministry should be about delivering the service, not about ranking the titles. It should be about finding resources for the people, not abusing the public resources. It should be about empowering citizens, not overpowering the nation. In my opinion, it’s about thinking how to make their dreams come true, not about personal glamour. It shouldn’t be about selfishness and greed, but about sharing the resources fairly amongst the citizens of the country.

It makes me sad to see important politicians behind bars. Locked up, not drinking! It also makes me very sad to see them fleeing their country like thieves, after they have been touring like emperors.

Speaking of the devil... I’m sure the devil said: “I failed to rise to their standard. The human devil has a highly sophisticated brain, full of innovative ideas that we, ordinary devils, can only aspire to“. He added, talking to his boss: “I think we can send some of our fellow devils to learn from our brothers and sisters on earth”. His boss agreed: “Devil, I want you to get me a few of them as consultants. They have new techniques that our satanic encyclopaedia needs”.

See, the devil is not in disguise after all...

Shopping in the sales...

2012-01-09T10:26:00.000Z

Now that season to be “jolly” has passed, I see the people around me preoccupied with one thing. Not world peace, not what’s to eat for dinner, not is it warm in the house. They think about the sales, of course, when all stores reduce their prices.

I was in Birmingham over the “Boxing Day” bank holiday and I was shocked to see major stores shut, while small kiosks were open. At that moment I began to wonder where all the people were. Have they decided not to shop at all? Were they shopping online, for convenience? Or is it because people don’t have any money nowadays?

In my view, we need to stop for a moment and think: are we feeding the hungry with our shopping? Are we clothing the poor with our shopping? Are we contributing to the rise of the community? I believe we aren’t. Mindless shopping for bargains has lead many people into financial difficulties.

I don’t think there were such issues in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or 80’s. You will say: Perhaps it’s because there weren’t as many things to buy. I agree, perhaps that might be the case. However, in my opinion, we should still show restraint, while supporting the local entrepreneurs.

Halal Hot Dogs (Trick)

2012-01-05T12:23:00.000Z

This blog post is about halal hot dogs... somewhat!

The Transformation of Leadership and its Impact on Volunteerism

Let me start this discussion by asking what do we mean by leadership? In my view, a leader is the one in the front seat, driving, directing and delivering our vehicle to safety. He/ She could be one of three types of individuals: born leader (gifted and charismatic), trained leader (through experience) or appointed leader (sometimes they fit, other times they don’t).

In my opinion, leadership is about finding a way to create important opportunities, save resources and develop continuity to deliver the product to serve the needs of the community. A leader must also be able to gather wishes, root them in reality and forecast the future. Leadership should be about modesty, transparency, honesty, openness and altruism. This is my personal definition of leadership.

Continuing my idea, let us imagine I’m the owner of a small stall or kiosk selling halal Hot Dogs in the corner of a shopping centre. Within 6 months up to a year, I may be able to buy a small van to take me from A to B every other day to buy stock. I would enlist the help of my wife and a paid employee to maintain and grow the business.

In the second phase, three years along the line, I and my wife might be able to save more money and open a small corner shop selling doughnuts, lollipops, kebabs etc. We would need to employ more people to run the shop, while my wife is in the kitchen cooking and I go to a wholesaler to buy in bulk. We can look at this development as the first stage of building an organisation, as it takes up more time to manage, direct and control.

At this very critical stage of development, we need to look at three things: 1. business idea; 2. business management; 3. business ownership. If there is no clear separation between the management and ownership, I believe that it is a fatal mistake for any business.

If we want to develop that corner shop into a supermarket, we need to create a clear landmark between the idea, the management and the ownership of the business. Specialised people should manage the business, while the owner should protect the original idea and safeguard its development. A “supermarket philosophy” could remain forever at the back of the mind of the owner, failing to take it further to the next level and transforming the idea into a chain of supermarkets.

Only a few can share the governance with others and give them freedom to manage a team will be able to create a chain of supermarkets. By doing this, more money will come in, more job opportunities will be created and more services will be delivered to the community. Plus, more profit will return to the business owner, while incurring less risk on their capital money and gaining more public trust for their business.

This is where a lot of organisations are failing: owners refuse to let other capable individuals manage. The organisations which widened their ownership, diversified their leadership or alternated their governance are the ones with the biggest and most effective impact on volunteers. These organisations will have wider catchment areas, access to volunteers with more diverse skills, projects that require multi-tasking. They are the ones delivering more for the community.

Just imagine what it would be like if we were to empower all the small-scale social entrepreneurs and encourage them to endorse this new culture of ownership based on partnership: from a hot-dog to a chain of supermarkets!

Inspiring Children – Mohammed (PBUH)

2012-01-03T10:00:00.001Z

I am ending my series of stories about inspiring children with our Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). The Prophet was born in Mecca and was orphaned at a very young age. He was then passed on from one person to another, without a place to belong.

One day, little Mohammed (PBUH) was playing outside the house with children from the neighbourhood. While playing, two strange men came and took him away. They laid him on the ground, opened his chest and took a black spot off the heart. All the children ran away, but little Mohammed was brave. It turned out the two men were Angels sent by God to show His mercy and blessing for Mohammed (PBUH).

After that, Mohammed (PBUH) moved to his relatives’ house, where he proved he was a fast learner by helping his family out in trade. Because he was a blessed by God with very high morals, he didn’t follow other young men’s example and go out to party and drink. Instead, due to the steadfastness of his character, he acquired the nicknames “al-Amin” (faithful, trustworthy) and “al-Sadiq” (truthful).

Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) did not have an easy childhood, but became an inspiration for us all and a role model to follow.

My series of children and young adults with inspirational actions has come to an end, but I am urging you to remember that children not only can help shape our future. They are our future and we need to nurture their dreams and aspirations and sometimes look at them for inspiration.

Inspiring Children – Jesus and Mary

2011-12-29T10:00:00.000Z

So near to the day when our Christian brothers celebrated the birth of Jesus (PBUH), I feel it is time to talk about his inspiring actions and those of His mother, Mary (PBUH).

The story we all know is how young Mary got pregnant and felt ashamed at how she would face her community, as she was a virgin. She was only an inexperienced young girl, but already felt the burden of the community’s responsibilities on her shoulders.

However, she gave birth to baby Jesus in harsh conditions and managed to prove that her mission was not an ordinary mission. Jesus Himself (PBUH) showed from a very young age that He would become a great man, because He is the Word of God and the truth was conveyed to Him by God to guide humanity.

Both Jesus and Mary have shown strength when they were very young and have inspired generations to come with their wisdom, community leadership and goodness of heart.

To be continued...

Inspiring Children – Joseph

2011-12-23T10:00:00.000Z

It’s time to tell you about Joseph (PBUH) and his story. Like Abraham’s story, this one starts with the dream. After the dream, little Joseph went to his father Jacob (PBUH), telling him that he had seen the Sun, Moon and stars kneeling in front of him.

Jacob, in his wisdom, realised the meaning of the dream and told the little Joseph to keep quiet about this as it might enrage his step-brothers. Joseph’s brothers were envious of the affection their father bestowed on him and plotted to kill him, by throwing him into a very deep well and leaving him to die or be enslaved.

However, little Joseph was resourceful. Unafraid in the well, he tried to escape, and when a caravan went past and let down a bucket to fill with water, he climbed into the bucket and they took him with them. He was sold to the house of a very important Egyptian and he showed strength and wit by thriving in the household.

As a teenager, he grew up very handsome and the first lady of the house fell in love with his beauty. One day when she knew they would be alone, the lady of the house locked all the doors, trapping Joseph in. Joseph showed again the strength of his character and his faith, while acknowledging the respect he owed the master of the house by avoiding her. Scorned, she tried to attack him and caught his shirt from behind, while he was trying to escape her clutches.

At that very moment, the door was unlocked and a big crowd entered the hall. It was the master of the house and his escort. Everybody was shocked at the scene unfolding before them. The woman assessed the situation very quickly and started screaming: “Joseph tried to take advantage of me!” Joseph, in return, kept his cool and said he was innocent and that the lady of the house was the one attacking him.

Hearing the contradictory tales of his wife and the teenage boy whom he thought of as his son, the master of the house was bewildered. He didn’t know who to believe, until it was revealed to him that if Joseph’s shirt was torn at the front, his wife was telling the truth. However, if the shirt was torn at the back, it means the wife was a liar. The master checked Joseph’s shirt that was indeed torn at the back. Joseph had proved his steadfastness of character and the respect and love he had for his master by not betraying him.

Joseph had to withstand many trials as a child and teenager, including a stay in prison, but he made up for these years by becoming a great dignitary in Egypt later on in life and ruling fairly.

To be continued...

Inspiring Children - Moses and his sister

2011-12-20T10:00:00.001Z

I am continuing my series of blogs on inspirational children with Moses and his older sister. In my opinion, Moses’ birth reflects the struggle between right and wrong, justice and oppression.

In the year when Moses (PBUH) was born, the ruling Egyptian pharaoh decided to kill all baby boys born to Israelites. The Security and Secret Service broke down all the doors in order to find and dispose of baby boys. However, Moses’ mother was guided by God who told her to wrap her son in a blanket and put him in a basket and put it into the river Nile. She was shocked, but obeyed God and after little Moses was in the basket, floating away on the river, she asked her daughter to look out from the river bank to see where the tide would take her brother.

Both the mother and the daughter were shocked to see that God, in His infinite wisdom, took Moses to the house of the enemy who wanted to kill him mercilessly, the pharaoh’s palace. Moses’s sister had the enormous courage to go to the palace to check on his welfare. Had she been discovered, it’s likely she would have been punished. She found out that little Moses refused to feed from the wet nurse and cried day and night due to hunger. She had the strength and courage to appear before Pharaoh and his wife and ask for the crying Moses to be given in her care, as she knew someone who could feed him. Pharaoh and his wife consented and Moses was taken back to his real mother, unbeknownst to them.

Moses’s sister is an example of a fearless child, trying to do the right thing and help her brother and her mother.

Moses himself (PBUH) showed tremendous strength as a child. When he was playing with Pharaoh, as a toddler, he pulled a hair from his beard. This angered Pharaoh very much, so much that he wanted to have Moses killed. His wife intervened and saved him, but Pharaoh swore revenge and put little Moses to the test. He ordered his guards to bring a sweet and a piece of burning coal. They were put on the table and Pharaoh told his wife: “if Moses touches the sweet, I will have his head cut off. If he touches the burning coal, I will pardon him”.

Little Moses was nearly touching the sweet, but then put the burning coal into his mouth. This brave act saved his life and he went on to become a great man, an inspiration to us all.

To be continued...

Inspiring Children – Abraham’s son

2011-12-16T10:00:00.000Z

Abraham (PBUH) and son

Around this time last year I talked about the women who should be a source of inspiration for everyone. This year I will talk about the children and teenagers who made a difference.

Today I will tell you about one of Prophet Abraham’s sons (PBUH). We all know the story of how Abraham had children when he was very old and this was a miracle of God. We all know what happened afterwards:

One night, Prophet Abraham saw a vision in his dream, commanding him to slaughter his son. He woke up in fear and shock, thinking it was a whisper from the devil. For days and days, Prophet Abraham kept on having the same dream and realised it was a command from God. He then took his son to the slaughter and at the last moment, God replaced the son with a sheep to be slaughtered.

What we don’t emphasise is the courage of Abraham’s son. He was a kind, obedient boy, helping his father in his work. When he was bound and prepared for slaughter, he was prepared to be sacrificed in the name of God, without questions. Abraham’s son showed from his childhood that he would become a great leader of nations.

Up to this day, in Islam, a sheep is slaughtered during Hajj to commemorate this event.

To be continued...

Sylvester and Tweety Part 3

2011-12-13T10:00:00.000Z

It seems lately life has caught up with me and didn’t leave me enough time to catch up with cartoons. However, due to recent events, I find myself in cartoon land again. I’ve spoken about Bugs Bunny and his military tendencies, Daffy Duck and his quacking, but now I have Sylvester and Tweety in my sights.

Sylvester the cat is quite greedy, while Tweety bird is very sweet, but smart. Sylvester always tries to snatch Tweety and eat him, but never succeeds. I can draw some parallels to my country of birth, Egypt.

Sylvester and Tweety never get along and sometimes Tweety has to call on his friend the bulldog for help. In my view, they should sort out their own problems, without external help and an ounce of goodwill from both sides. The bulldog is like Ramses, the military king, a force to be reckoned with. Sylvester doesn’t need to get bitten by the bulldog to make peace with Tweety.

I believe we need to give everybody time and a neutral platform for discussion to have a peaceful transition from fight to engagement. If the Tunisians managed to have a peaceful transition, so must we, as Egyptians.

Let the example in the image of Sylvester and Tweety be no more!

Daffy Duck Part 2

2011-12-05T10:00:00.001Z

Continuing my cartoon series, I have reached another favourite of mine: Daffy Duck. He’s a very smart duck, but maybe a bit bossy. He believes he is the head of operations, but Bugs Bunny always makes fun of him. When that happens, Daffy Duck gets angry, and when he gets angry his quacking doesn’t have an echo within all of us.

I understand Daffy’s anger and bossiness; after all everyone needs a head to guide, to plan, to drive and to protect, to invest and to invent. Daffy has to quack to be heard and get his message across, because he feels talking wouldn’t solve the issue.

In my view, Daffy Duck is wrong. He needs to calm down, sit down and discuss with everybody. What Daffy needs to remember is that sometimes the head is indeed the problem. For example, I met with someone recently who told me that in certain conflict zones, the heads of the military spent over the past few years hundreds of millions (!) on quacking.

This someone also said something very wise: “Headquarters exist so that headquarters can exist”. Daffy Duck’s quacking exists because he doesn’t want to communicate in any other useful way. We need to stop quacking and start discussing rationally, being more transparent and less bossy.

After all, while Daffy Duck was quacking, Sylvester and Tweety... (to be continued).

Bugs Bunny - Part 1

2011-11-30T10:00:00.000Z

Courtesy of cartoonandstuff.wordpress.com

Because sometimes, life looks too much like a cartoon, this series of blogs will look at the cartoon characters affecting our lives in one way or another.

Today I’ll start with our favourite “hare” raising story: what would happen if Bugs Bunny ruled the world. In my opinion, in some ways, he already is. He’s walking around in his military outfit and coming to me for advice: “What’s up, Doc?”

Bugs Bunny is quite persuasive and secretive, always in the background. He lets Daffy Duck make a fool of himself, while he’s always in the shadows. Whenever Bugs Bunny is in a boardroom, he always looks for rabbit holes and loop holes. When he finds one, he jumps inside wholeheartedly, leaving everyone guessing what his position on a matter was.

However, he always gets lost after his disappearing act and causes more mischief. I believe we should strip Bugs of his military stars and use him as a Buggy, a vehicle to move the community forward.

The carrot and the stick should function in this case as well and only then we can make our Carrot-Boy part and parcel of the community and keep the bugs away.

Meanwhile, Daffy Duck... (to be continued).

The trouble with skyscrapers...

2011-11-25T09:51:00.000Z

Quite often I find myself in meetings in skyscrapers around the world. This bothers me, as whenever I look out through a window, I only see clouds and fog. The atmosphere prevents people in skyscrapers from seeing the real world. For example, when I wanted to look at the sun or the moon, I couldn’t. When I wanted to look at the stars, I couldn’t.

The trouble with skyscrapers is that they keep your head in the clouds all the time and make you lose your vision. This is why my decision was to come down to earth. If we don’t come back to earth, we find that we become like overinflated balloons, going ahead and above with no direction, which can be harmed by any pin prick. Then we pop and produce nothing but useless hot air.

When you come back to earth, you can see what is around you, without the need to see it on TV. You can look at the stars and get involved.

In my opinion, if we want to tackle climate change, we cannot do it from the position of a cocoon in a skyscraper, letting life go past us below. If we want to change the world and the people, we cannot do it from in front of a TV screen. Keeping our heads off the clouds ensures we will keep grounded and help those who need it most.

We are in partnership with the grass, with the animals and the environment. To make a better world for all of us, we have to step out of the cocoon of the skyscraper and act, instead of watch.

The road to success

2011-11-23T10:00:00.002Z

While I was dropping my daughter off the other day, I made the acquaintance of two very interesting people, Dino and Jila. They offered me tea and biscuits and enquired politely about my health. I told them about my recent trips to various countries and we started to talk about their recycling business.

They asked for my opinion. They said they wanted to expand their business and cover the whole of the UK. I told them that, in my view, this is good, but more needs to be done. I believe they have the capacity to outgrow the UK market. We need to marry somehow the horizontal growth of society development with the vertical thoughts of society change. After all, development is a long term process of implementing a slow, stable mechanism. The worry is that this process could become quite traditional and somebody else could beat you to it.

In my opinion, to achieve this and be well on our way on the road to success, we must bring innovation to the table. You needn’t be a genius or have a tremendously high IQ to innovate. History shows us that the ones who succeed are those with a strong belief in themselves and those who persevere without losing hope. History also shows us that those who succeed often overcome barriers of any kind, including lack of resources.

Let us think of Nobel Prize winners – they have achieved this honour on the basis of their belief, determination and hope. Let us think of millionaires like James Caan, whose rags to riches story talks about determination, belief and drive.

If you want to change our society, the development process must include innovation. If there wouldn’t be any innovation, we would all look the same, eat the same food, drink the same water and wear the same clothes. Innovation nurtures diversity, complementarity, partnership and excitement.

Are you ready to walk down the road to success?

Love is in the air...

2011-11-21T10:00:00.001Z

The Humanitarian Forum held an accounting and compliance training for small charities the other week. It was very successful but what caught my attention was the idea of the existence of a “suspense account”. When I found out that it meant money left “up in the air” somewhere, I immediately thought of a song from the 70s, I’m sure you’ve heard it:

It’s a very nice song, talking about love being in the air for everybody. In my opinion, before you leave things suspended in the air, you must know some facts. For example, you should ask yourself: what sort of air will it be? Will it change the climate in any way? Will it impact the environment?

The same thing should happen with the “suspense account”. Due to counter-terrorist measures, banks and bank managers have been granted special powers to refuse transfers because your name might start with the letter S, Z or V or you might be from a country starting with the letter A. I believe that such a power being given to individuals will deprive communities in the long term. It will destroy communities, fragment society and create more terror, radicalism and extremism and even lead to extinction.

Nobody knows how many bank transfers have been stopped, frozen and suspended. The deprived are even more deprived as they’re left up in the air. Love might be in the air, as the song claims, but money definitely isn’t. I wish that wasn’t the case and that the process would be more transparent and accountable.

For example, what happens to the money in the suspense account? Does it just sit there for years and years, gaining interest? Who stands to benefit from that interest?

Because these questions are unpleasant and cannot be answered in all honesty, I leave you with a pleasant image:

War on Poverty!

2011-11-18T10:00:00.000Z

A kiss!

Because poverty is such a “hot” topic, I feel it’s time to ask some questions.

Firstly, how does it feel to be a poor adult? How does it feel to be a poor child? Does poverty mean loss of dignity or does poverty mean less of credibility?

Would you be happy to live in a poor area or neighbourhood? Would you be happy to mix with poor people and be in their midst?

Would you be able to feel what poor people feel? Would you be happy to wear the same things as poor people do? Would you eat their food and live in their houses and sleep on their furniture? How can you get acquainted with poor people when you only invite rich dignitaries in?

In my view, poverty is not just a by-product of the system but a phenomenon that has to have its root causes treated.

For each rich individual, there are 10 or more poor people. We need to try and override the desire of our selfishness, greed and individualistic approach. The causes and solution of poverty live inside us. We keep on making the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

The solution to poverty is not a governmental one, nor an institutional or organisational one. The responsibility of caring and sharing is individual.

It’s the responsibility of each and every one of us to make poverty history. It is up to us to declare War on Poverty.

Into the Mud...

2011-11-16T10:00:00.003Z

Recently, I was visited by a couple of my daughter’s colleagues from university. Both of them are studying for their Master’s degree in Development. We started discussing the current situation in Egypt. Mina, one of the visitors, described the situation as “muddy, sticky and slippery”.

In my view, mud can be either good or bad, depending on what you make of it. For example, clay in skilled hands can make the loveliest ceramic. On the other hand, my wife wouldn’t thank me if I came in the house with muddy shoes.

My question to the students was: “How can we make something useful out of mud?” They accepted my challenge and immediately thought of a solution to separate the water from the dust. They thought of a machine to separate the vapour and change it into energy to produce distilled water, in order to serve the community. On the other side of the machine, the dust will come out, for people to use for other projects (bricks, mortar etc).

I then challenged them to think what sort of a machine we would need. Is it a car? A lorry? Maybe an engine? Or a generator? Or is it a battery? Vito then said: the machine is what we call a civil society. This civil society will be able to dive smoothly between the particles of dust and atoms of water at the ultra-microscopic level of the grass-root community level. With its limited resources, it will be able not only to separate the water from the dust, but also change the vapour into a dynamic action, producing distilled water to save the community.

The discussion around the situation in Egypt shouldn’t be centred on politics, but on how to utilise the social resource of 85 million citizens (over 50% of them are under 35 years old) in a most productive effective way.

My guests and I agreed that the only way forward for a country at the beginning of the 21st century is to empower the civil society organisations and to enable them to become guiding watchdogs on behalf of the dust (the people) and the water (resources).

We may come from dust ourselves, but good things can come from the mud as well.

My new name

2011-11-14T10:00:00.000Z

The long-awaited and dreaded date of Friday, 11/11/2011 is all but a memory today. We are still here, the world is the same. Just like it was on 11 /11/1, in the year of Jesus’s birth (PBUH), or on the same date in year 111, or 1111 and even 2011.

In my view, this is a fantasy, created by idle minds. Every so often there’s an 11/11 and no end of the world. Every so often there’s a 12/12 or a 9/9 and no big news. If you see a black cat in the middle of the road, there’s a demon. If you wake up and look outside at the garden and you see a black bird, there’s another demon.

When you buy a house, it most certainly won’t be number 13, because it might be haunted. Some “banana” airlines remove the seat number 13 from both sides of the plane. It would be funny if you could somehow jump through thin air from seat 12 to seat 14, don’t you think?! Even in elevators, in some buildings, if you are going to the 13th floor, you will find it doesn’t exist. Who knows, maybe the elevator travels through void to reach the 14th floor!

I’m not sure you knew that Friday the 13th is the day of the devil and therefore we must all stop inside and not go to work, lest something happens!

I believe that we must put all this aside and get on with the job of being human beings. If God wanted a special day (11/11/11), let it up to HIM to announce and up to us to follow. Please save your time, energy and money by looking forward with objectivity at how you can save others, less fortunate.

On this occasion, I would like to inaugurate my new name:

BlackbirdbornonFriday13thwholiveswiththeblackcatatnumber13on13thstreet.

Do you like it?

End Poverty?

2011-11-11T10:00:00.000Z

It’s been a loooong time since we started to “make poverty history” or lobbied the G8, G20, G100 and every other gathering. Poverty has become a reality of our time and a part of the future of our children. Since we launched the Millennium Development Goals, 11 years ago, how many of these have been achieved?

Have we truly made steps to eradicate poverty? When we visit such places as Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Columbia we see that is not the case. Let me ask you something else: do you think we have managed to eradicate poverty in our own countries – Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand or Japan?

We want to achieve this not by talking, but by doing. Our boardrooms are full to the brim, while people out there build houses out of dust and mud. We dust our bags, our offices, our homes, while people have dust in their food, drink, breath and life.

If we won t make poverty history, we have to start sharing what we have at home with the people whose real life is history.

One big, happy family

2011-11-09T10:00:00.001Z

In the previous blog before my Eid message, I was talking about how difficult it is in some countries to give and receive aid. How would you feel if I told you that, in some countries, aid has been “nationalised” and kept in the family? How would you feel if I told you that in some countries, the distribution of aid is run exclusively by members of the military, security or the ruling class?

In my view, this gives the freedom to give to the few, while the others are being deprived. Counter-terrorism humanitarian policies and the War on Terror are feeding monsters globally. Sometimes, it can be that our policy can become our monster. Our monster, without anything or anyone (!) to eat, will eat us instead.

Enough talk of monsters. Let us look at the bigger picture. If we do not accept and collaborate, we will never be one big, happy family. Local, global, big and small, from the northernmost point to the southernmost point, from east to west, spanning different cultures and beliefs, it is time to join hands for the sake of those in need.

Eid Mubarak!

2011-11-07T10:00:00.002Z

The Bus Stop

2011-11-04T10:00:00.000Z

Courtesy of Flickr

Counter-terrorism is, at long last, on the international agenda. Two years ago, The Humanitarian Forum organised a meeting to talk about this issue (which has been on the table for the past 10 years or so). I must admit that it wasn’t the pleas of the Muslim or Arab charities suffering from War on Terror or Counter-Terrorism Policy which surprised me. The pleas of Western International NGOs surprised me more!

A colleague told me a wise story. He said that, once upon a time, a poor person was waiting at the bus stop. And they waited, and waited, and waited, for years. Then, a wealthy, influential person came to the same bus stop. The bus came then.

I believe financial counter-terrorist measures are not only affecting the humanitarian space of NGOs, but they are shrinking the humanitarian space of every individual Muslim or Arab donor. The donors from that part of the world are scared to wire their donation. They are scared to even talk about donations. They are scared even to support any fellow human being.

I visited a few donor countries very recently. In one of them, the locally registered organisation was unable to publicise a fundraising leaflet. They weren’t able to advertise on any public media. Even worse, the organisation could not transfer money to regional offices to run their humanitarian programmes.

Let all the people waiting at the bus stop get on the bus and the driver to take us to our destination: the fulfilment of people’s needs!

The umbrella

2011-11-02T10:00:00.000Z

As I watch the rain falling down in London, I can’t help but think that sometimes umbrellas can cause more harm than good. Umbrellas can shelter us from the rain, but they can also be weapons, to take each other’s eyes out.

For example, imagine four dynamic international stakeholders, the pillars of every state and every community. Each has their own boundaries and address different social needs. Each must be transparent and have its own umbrella.

What would happen if someone gathered these four under a single umbrella? Some might say: “more economical – one umbrella, instead of four”. Some might say: “I’m glad they’re working together, it’s all about partnership”.
In my view, four under one umbrella means that at least one will be left exposed, out in the rain. What if I was to say to you that these four major stakeholders are: politics, security, military and humanitarianism? Poor humanitarianism would be the one standing half under the umbrella and half in the rain.

In any conflict, our lines of demarcation have to become thicker than ever, not be blurred by the umbrella. Humanitarianism doesn’t (or shouldn’t) have any political, security or military agenda. However, if we all share the same umbrella, how can someone standing at a distance see us?! They will only see some kind of uniform, even if we are wearing civilian clothes. This will endanger further humanitarian workers in conflict zones.

While decisions are being made looking at TV screens on the 25th floor of a skyscraper in a major city, aid workers are at risk of being kidnapped, or even worse, killed.

Let us each have our own umbrella and keep safe, out of the rain!

Frankenstein!

2011-10-31T10:00:00.003Z

Photo courtesy of crazy-frankenstein.co

Halloween is upon us and everyone is talking about ghosts, ghouls and monsters. Children get dressed up and go trick-or-treating, while adults are looking after them like hawks. I have some scary stories to tell as well, so sit back and read on.

There was once upon a time a Lord. HE was all that was good and merciful, however, individuals decided to pool together their interests and act wrongly, in HIS name. In their laboratory, they created a monster, just like the more famous Frankenstein.

I am asking you, do you believe the Lord needs a monster to scare people in order to spread HIS message of good?! Does the Lord need people to be killed by the monster while spreading HIS message? Does the Lord love to see the bloodshed of innocent people as a price of spreading HIS message?

I don’t think the Lord would love any of this. The Lord wants peace, wants love, stability, safety. This cannot be done by using guns, tanks, missiles, bullets, or fighter jets and helicopters. It can only be done by using reason, dialogue, and negotiation, convincing and allowing the freedom of thought. The Lord is about free thinking, free movement, free society and freedom for all.

Individuals from different parts of the world are justifying the killing in the name of the Lord just to fulfil their political and economical desires. They created a monster in their back yard and kept feeding him for years and allowed him to kill everyone in the neighbourhood until there was nobody in the neighbourhood to eat and kill but the master who created him.

I leave my story for now with Goya's wise words: “The sleep of reason produces monsters.”

What motivates me? Part four

2011-10-28T10:00:00.000+01:00

My fourth motivational stop came (surprisingly, if I may add) from the warm desert. It came from a rich Gulf country, a country with one of the highest annual incomes per capita on earth. I met with two leading humanitarian agencies there, to discuss what is next in store for Arab and Muslim charities.

My question was: how can we raise the profile, build capacity and increase the connectivity within the humanitarian movement. The discussion wasn’t centred on funding or implementing traditional humanitarian projects. Instead, we discussed how to build the capacity of local partners, change the culture of giving and the philosophy of traditional projects. We talked about how to involve the youth and women in national and international work and how to create new humanitarian ambassadors. We talked about how to find a new role for new emerging countries after the Arab Spring.

Quite often, organisations go to the warm desert to fundraise. We have been witnessing a plethora of international, global and western agencies seeking funds from the warm desert. Even the appeal for Somalia was geared towards the rich Arab and Muslim majority countries.

The contrast between our discussion in Doha and the image that Doha, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait present at the back of the mind of fundraisers is huge. It is the difference between the one who reads the mind of an intellectual and the one who looks at how strong their body is.

Physical strength is short lived; it can be affected by disease, age and fatigue. The power of the mind is superior, growing with experience, age and knowledge. We should bank on the wisdom which comes out of the warm sands, not on the hot air brought out by the gas and the oil of the warm sands.

Let us celebrate the intellectual capability not keep smelling hot air.

What motivates me? Part three

2011-10-26T09:59:00.000+01:00

I want to tell you about my trip to Japan and Japan’s unsung heroes. It was a 13 hour flight to get there and a distance of over 10,000km. I would like to thank the sponsor for their generosity in offering me a business class ticket, thereby enabling me to sleep for 7 hours before arriving in Tokyo, via Osaka.

I spoke at the Fourth Annual Seminar on Islam and Disaster Response, held at Tokyo University. The Seminar was made special for me by two Non-Muslim Japanese ladies, joining hands with the local Muslim community. One of them had travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, while the other had visited the dangerous area affected by the tsunami.

Both of them had taken a great risk internationally (being kidnapped) and nationally (the effect of radiation on their bodies). The only common fear amongst them was their fear of travelling or coming closer to Muslims.
One of them said: “I was a little bit scared, suspicious and bewildered. I have been cautioned by my relatives and family”. After her experience she came back with a more positive feeling towards the fellow Japanese and Asian Muslims in Japan.

I have to bow down to the two ladies, who don’t just talk the talk, but can walk the walk! They became the source of my motivation and the power behind my drive during my visit to Tokyo which lasted 48h.

To be continued....

What motivates me? Part two

2011-10-24T10:00:00.002+01:00

The lady who overshadowed my talk

The idea of delivering a talk in Egypt about the role of civil society organisations in building nations and creating civilisations was discussed between myself and a few young volunteers in Cairo.

To be very honest, I was a bit scared to give a public talk where is, in fact, my birth place without having a strong logistic support from our office, as we don’t have a THF base in Cairo at the moment. Instead, we used the revolutionary technique of Social Media: we advertised the event on my Facebook page and the pages of a few local youth organisations and universities.

The feedback I received from some of my relatives and colleagues when they heard of this Facebook idea was that they believed only 10% people who signed up would attend. We were prepared for disaster. On the day, to my surprise, we found the hall full of people; the organisers had to bring in more chairs to fill the corridors and open the second hall.

The source of my motivation and the power behind my drive is not the number of people who attended the talk for 2 hours, but the actual age of the people. I was pleased to see that more than 80% of them were under 30 and their interaction was positive, lively, dynamic and forward looking towards long-term sustainable solution.

I was even more impressed by a comment made by a retired professor who used to teach French at “Ain Schams” university. She was over 80 and could hardly speak, but managed to deliver a message of motivation. She told us how she contributed towards helping the poor people through giving time, effort, vision, cash. When she used to feel she became too big-headed- for her own good, she used to volunteer for the first aid and ambulance services and go and clean up the wounds and feet of ordinary people.

To be continued...

What motivates me? Part one

2011-10-21T10:00:00.001+01:00

I often get this question, either from people who have just met me or Facebook fans. What motivates me is a complex question and requires a complex answer. I will tell you about some of my recent travels and you will be able to glimpse into my motivation and the special people who make everything worth it.

After my journey to the Horn of Africa, I have travelled to Libya, Egypt and Japan. This made me look back at who is the source of my motivation and who/what drives me. I believe I have discovered the source and the drive.

After finishing my work in Mogadishu and Nairobi, I had to go to Benghazi, Libya via Istanbul from Cairo. On 30th September I landed in Benghazi, where I met with Tareq (Bakri, Partnerships Manager for The Humanitarian Forum).

Our workshop was being held in Al Bayda and instead of waiting in Benghazi; we travelled and meet with our team there, 200km away. The meeting was very fruitful; not only did we meet our team of trainers; we also met the Libyan people coming to join our training programme. They were the source of our motivation and the power behind our drive.

From there, I travelled back to Benghazi to fly to Tripoli, the capital. In Tripoli, not only did I manage to meet the UN officials and Libyan ministers, but I also met with another source of motivation in the capital: 44 local start-up organisations.

Unfortunately on that day, Tripoli airport was closed. This meant I had to travel 8 hours by car to get to the Tunisian border and then take an early flight next morning to Cairo.

In Libya, I found there is no fatigue without reward and that the reward could be immeasurable.

To be continued...

The Somali Connection

2011-10-19T09:21:00.000+01:00

In order to save Somalia, I believe we must have a Somali solution. The approach should be bottom up and “glocal” (local with a global dimension). The solution to the crisis cannot come from a boardroom in the Middle East, Europe or the States. The boardroom that can offer a solution is the one underneath the shade of trees within Somalia.

It’s not only compulsory for humanitarian organisations but also for you and me to support this solution. UN agencies, governments, donors should invest heavily in building the infrastructure of the social fabric of Somalia. In my opinion, humanitarian organisations should allocate as much as 20% of their humanitarian expenditure on building the future leadership of Somalia from within.

During our visit to Somalia in September (The Humanitarian Forum, Somali Relief and Development Forum and Muslim Charities Forum), we held two conferences.

The first one, chaired by Muslim Charities Forum, gathered local organisations to discuss the future of humanitarian work in Somalia. The meeting was in the Somali language and we managed to bring 44 organisations to one table to focus on Somalia and created the spirit and the momentum of unity among them. We helped them to look together at one Somalia, whether they came from the east, west, north or south. The group called themselves SHOC (Somali Humanitarian Operational Consortium). I hope you will support SHOC to become one of the new humanitarian and social actors inside and outside Somalia.

In Nairobi, in partnership with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, The Humanitarian Forum organised a two-day conference to discuss the challenges of the transition between relief and recovery. I was very pleased to see that over 100 international agencies attended the conference: UN agencies, DFID, a Somali donor group, USAID plus major actors from the MENA region, South Africa and Asia. Among the key messages from the meeting was the fact that a new humanitarian leadership is emerging from the OIC and LAS countries.

Let us think local and act global to save Somalia!

Stop. Full stop.

2011-10-13T10:00:00.000+01:00

I have visited Cairo twice over the past two weeks. I have been privileged enough to discuss different issues with youth groups, social activists, philanthropists and politicians. I felt at the time and still feel this way that everyone is enthusiastic to see the results of the revolution and a real change in society. Everyone wants to see democracy, inclusivity and motivation brought to every citizen in the country.

Egypt was and is a multicultural, multi faith, multi ethnic and multi-racial country. The Egyptians have been living together on this piece of land for thousands of years as one nation. They managed to build one of most magnificent and diverse civilisations. Humankind is still enjoying the treasures and secrets of this civilisation.

Egypt welcomed many religions, prophets, reformers, many Super- Powers and passengers. Each of them came to enjoy and be a part of one of the greatest civilisations. In my view, if Egypt loses these characteristics, it will lose its greatest asset- its heritage.

Egypt has been in the news recently, however it pains me to say it, not for pleasant reasons. I believe that the scenes shown DO NOT reflect the feelings of 85 million Egyptians.

Let me give you an example, close to my heart. Last Friday, one of my closest friends, a Christian script-writer, invited me to a 7-star dinner in Cairo. He came to listen to my talk about civil society and even insisted to cancel his private meetings to entertain me as a brother, as a friend and as a fellow citizen. This is the true Egyptian spirit and hospitality that 85 million people are enjoying.

The people we see on TV are only but few. They must be advised to be true Egyptians and think about their country, instead of petty interests. Egypt, our mother land has been built by the hands of Muslims, Christians, Jews and others.

In my opinion, the ones who are trying to keep the conflict alive need to be stopped. Full stop. This is not just about Egypt, but the unity of the whole neighbourhood.

Please, kill the conflict, but do not kill me. I have been living on this land with you for the past 7000 years. Let us live together in peace for the millennia to come!

1 Somalia, 2 Somalia...

2011-10-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

...3 Somalia, 4, 5 Somalia, 6 Somalia, 7 Somalia, more. This could very easily and heartbreakingly replace the well-known children’s nursery rhyme.

I don’t want to think of 5 Somalia, 6 Somalia or 7 Somalia because of its assets. Somalia has a long coastal fronting the Indian Ocean and access to the Red Sea. Is that the only defining feature?

I don’t want to see Somalia as a pearl necklace that could be torn apart if other countries would like to take a piece each. I would like to see Somalia as a jewel every country would like to preserve.

There are many opportunities for the international community to invest in Somalia. If they have the political power and good intention to save Somalia, they must take it from the relief stage and transfer it to recovery and development.

I recognise that humanitarian organisations cannot do it alone – they need to partner with governments. I want the international community to invest in the Somali Diaspora. I want the international community’s unconditional support to the Somali Diaspora. In my view, if we unite the Diaspora, we can unite Somalia.

The T-shirt and the Tuxedo

2011-10-10T09:25:00.000+01:00

We can appreciate the role of governments, when they have good, solid policies on security, economy and diplomacy. What we cannot appreciate is when governments start wearing their humanitarian t-shirts to further political or economical causes.

The Humanitarian t-shirt can only be worn by neutral people, who only side with the people in need. For example, governments could fund the building of airports in areas such as Puntland, Somaliland, and Mogadishu etc.

We cannot appreciate when governments wear the humanitarian t-shirt. However, we cannot appreciate governments wearing the tuxedo of humanitarian politics either.

I would love to see governments investing in water and agriculture, fishing and livestock in different areas to bring stability to the whole Somalia and the whole region.

I would like to appeal to the governments in Muslim-majority countries to visit Somalia and assure the people in need that they will be helped. If one organisation takes this lead swiftly and effectively, the rest of the international community will follow.

Back to the future

2011-10-06T14:45:00.000+01:00

Picture courtesy of http://themacwire.blogspot.com

In the 1980’s, Back to the Future was a popular series of films, showing the main character drifting backwards and forwards in time, with the use of a time travel machine.

While I was visiting Mogadishu, I thought what it would be like if we took the car from the film and drove it through time and space straight to the year 2030. One would hope that in 2030 we would see a prosperous Somalia. But what if we travelled all the way and saw no difference? What if people would still be talking, instead of acting?

This is a very serious issue. I imagine the international community has spent more than 55 billion USD over the past two or three decades on relief for Somalia and the Horn of Africa. Do we see any impact made by these billions?

I ask you, is it the right time to stop, think, look back to the future and act? Or will it take another 55 billion USD and some more decades? Will 2030 find us having similar discussions?

Announcement

2011-09-28T11:14:00.000+01:00

Salam!

Forgive me, but for today, rather than a blog post, I have an announcement to make. I will be giving a talk in Cairo on 6th October. I will be talking about the role of civil society organisations in building communities, one of my favourite topics of discussion.

The event is kindly sponsored by Alashanek Ya Balady for Sustainable Development (http://www.ayb-sd.org/) and Namaa (www.namaa.info).

Anyone can attend, so please come and let me meet you. Please share this announcement with your friends in Cairo, or who are going to be in Cairo on 6th October (Thursday).

If you have a Facebook account, please sign up to this event or share it with the people you know:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=280336681978620

Thank you very much!

Dr. Hany

Untitled...

2011-09-26T11:51:00.000+01:00

This blog hasn't got a title. I decided not to name it, because, in my opinion, we have been failing consistently. You are entitled to ask: why? Let me tell you.

The past 6 months’ events in North Africa and Somalia showed one serious mistake committed by the international community. This gross mistake is the fact that we didn’t empower and build local community based organisations or community services in areas where we have been working for the past decades.

Could we be to blame as humanitarian actors or do we also blame the local system functioning in these countries? I was revisiting the access problem for Somalia and asked myself a question- whose security is more important, the security of the million of beneficiaries who are the real owners of money we spend, or us as humanitarian actors? Therein lays the problem.

How should we prioritise? Who should be on top of the pecking order? The expat staff? The local staff? The people in need? I leave you to answer that question.

Our failure to address these issues makes us guilty before generations to come.

It is not enough to talk about famine, conflict or needs - we should act. I hope that our humanitarian action for Somalia will not stop at just observing famine and managing drought.

I am writing this just as I am about to enter the meeting The Humanitarian Forum and OIC are holding in Nairobi.

Who wants to be responsible? The Blame Game Part 2

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000+01:00

Continuing our quiz show, can you imagine what the contestant would answer? I believe the person in the hot seat would look left, would look right and then answer something like: “Nobody is responsible. It just happens!”

I can just imagine the expression of the face of the show host and the gasps from the audience, as it would have been the first time somebody gives an answer that isn’t among the given ones. While I commend thinking outside the box, I can’t commend lack of responsibility. The contestant doesn’t deserve to win.

After all, the environment is about independence. It is the most independent creation of God. When it loses its independence, it loses its characteristic components and beings.

Who to blame? It could be the people who are over consuming, overspending and over utilising the resources of the environment. It could be the people who are depriving the millions of poor and vulnerable from a safe environment to save their lives.

I was hoping to see a great industrial revolution tied to greater ethical values. Unfortunately, the power of wealth, authority and control is stronger. Ethical values have been replaced by market shares. If you want to revisit environmental issues we should revisit our issues of ethical and moral values.

If we don t save our environment, we’ll be like those who are ignorantly answering questions on a quiz show. If we won’t save our environment, we won t save our future and the lives of our future generations.

We need to stop playing the blame game and try to save humanity.

Who wants to be responsible? The quiz show Part 1

2011-09-12T10:00:00.000+01:00

New quiz shows appear all the time on TV, but I have yet to see one on the environment. I can imagine a grinning host asking a hopeful contestant:

“The environment is slowly dying. Please tell me which one of these is responsible:

A.    Animals and Plants
B.    Oceans and Forests
C.    Virus and Bacteria
D.    People

You have 3 minutes to answer.”

I can also imagine the flustered contestant wondering what they should answer to win the competition. If they would call me to ask me for their help, this is what I would tell them:

You have to ask yourself first: what is the environment? The environment is our surroundings, it’s where we ought to feel safe, comfortable and at pace with ourselves. The environment is our society and our future. It is our sheer life. This is why no one has the right to destroy it. We are interconnected, as we all live inside it. If one area of it is ruined, the rest will follow.

The ignorance of human beings (in the 21st century) will let them think that there is no impact or the impact is negligible. The more knowledgeable will count the extermination of the billions of lives of other beings sharing the environment with us.

Let us think: who is responsible? The multi-national companies? The lady selling sweets in a back street in Delhi or Karachi? The tea-maker in Marrakech? The poor farmer in Zimbabwe? The taxi driver in Mexico City? Or maybe the camel shepherd in Afghanistan?

Why blame the blame the weak, poor and vulnerable?

Red Carpet for Red Talk Part 2

2011-09-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

It is time to start discussing value-based rather than faith-based. We must leave our comfort zone and open the door to new members who might change our philosophy of thought.

For example, let us discuss the principles of humanitarian work. Some may say they are faith-based. Some may ask how to include others. The debate needs to be opened. Are the existing principles good? In my opinion, they are, however what they miss is human initiative. This human initiative should come in the form of active discussions. For example, should the number of principles be reduced or should we add some more? If we reduced or added, what would it be like?

Society is developing around us at the speed of light, yet it seems to me we are trying to keep up with it at the speed of a bicycle. Humanitarianism is not a one sided coin- it is a multi-faceted process of value based deliverable products to serve the community.

Let us walk together on the red carpet to make a difference!

Red Carpet for Red Talk Part 1

2011-09-07T10:00:00.000+01:00

I was recently in Geneva and had a really memorable day. I met with the Secretary General of IFRC, the Director General of ICRC and the CEO of British Red Cross. We had food for thought, before I went over the red carpet to give the Red Talk on the IFRC podium.

I recall my first meeting with the head of ICRC. I remember talking to him about the importance of perceptions. If we look at the ICRC logo, I asked him, what do we see? He answered back: “A cross”. I replied: “It’s a plus sign, because the work you do for humanity is an added value”.

These are good memories, but it is time to come back to the present and my Red Talk. Being August, many people tend to be on their annual leave and Muslims are fasting as well. I was expecting very few people to be present. To my surprise, the auditorium was full and there were also people around the globe listening to the online stream.

I asked: what is universal humanitarianism? Are we or aren’t we all partners in water and vegetation- whether we are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish etc? When it comes to serving people in need- does it stem from Christianity, Buddhism etc or does it reflect all religions?

If somebody stood up and said you are not a good man when you sleep with your stomach full when your next door neighbour is hungry, does that reflect on a particular religion?

I cannot help but ask: is faith a dividing factor or a uniting factor? The answer is that, unfortunately, faith is used sometimes to mark a community. We should rather use values as the uniting factor. We all have common values.

To be continued...

Smile! You’re on camera!

2011-09-05T09:57:00.000+01:00

When I recently came back in the office after having visited Somalia, a colleague asked me: “What is it like? Is it really that bad as the pictures show it to be?” I was really puzzled by her question, so she asked me something else: “What drives you to travel and work for the needy: your heart, your mind or the scenes you see on TV?”

I gave her a simple answer: all three. We have to work on the mind and heart in order to let them believe in humanity and possibilities before the minds and hearts see devastating scenes of famine and drought. In my opinion, if any of us would feel even a tenth of what we see on TV or in newspapers- that level of desperation and hunger and loss of dignity- we would never sit down until we have saved all the people in need.

The heart is the one driving the mind, however the mind is directing our heart where to go. Where people feel the image and not just watch the image, that’s when help is on its way.

Let us take a moment and feel the images, rather than just watching them. Thank you.

Amazing Women – Super Humanitarians Part 2

2011-08-31T10:00:00.000+01:00

The third woman is a successful social entrepreneur. She received a micro-loan from an NGO to the value of approximately 20,000 rupees ($235), after her husband lost his job. With the loan, she started a business from home, buying items from a Cash & Carry and making door to door sales. She travelled 450km round trips from Rawal Pindi to Peshawar in order to buy stock for 50% less.

She told me she makes a 6000 rupees profit every month (30% of the capital money). I looked at this woman, and then looked at myself, and then at the situation of the unemployed people in developed countries, and could see that the solution will come from here, from Mariam.

I promised her that I will be visiting again in a years’ time and asked her what she thought she would have achieved by then. She just smiled and told me: ‘I’ll have a small shop by then’.

This was the icing on the cake of my visit to Pakistan. When we visited the flood affected areas, we found that poverty is very, very resilient, and is well equipped with metaphorical tools, machineries and arms to destroy life. However, I saw that the people are more resilient. They are in partnership with resilience, perseverance, determination and strong will. I believe they will achieve this and rebuild their livelihoods.

Amazing Women – Super Humanitarians Part 1

2011-08-29T10:00:00.001+01:00

During my visit to Pakistan, I was fortunate enough to meet some amazing women- true community leaders and super humanitarians: two widows and one entrepreneur. Today I will share with you the story of the first two women who were left widowed when their husbands died, leaving them with young children to feed and look after.

The first widow is paralysed from her legs down, and cannot stand or walk. She can, however, draw a great smile. She has been looking after two young children who are going to the nearby school; two girls who want to become doctors. She has amazing strength, especially as she is also looking after one of her nephews, because his mother is mentally disabled.

Her disability gives her the main drive to build her family, to support her brother’s family, and to work part time and earn extra money to help make the dream of those children come true.

The second astounding woman is another widow, who looking after her 14 year old daughter, as well as a young girl aged 5 that she adopted. She has a great ability and strong-minded dream to build the future of the two children and make to make the best possible life out of future.

The two are widows are determined to expand their message of love and support to extended family and the outside community. With the money they could have, they could build a much greater society than we have. The will of two women, strengthened by their social and physical conditions, as well as being part time community workers, is strong.

To be continued...

No entry - Somalia part 2

2011-08-26T10:00:00.000+01:00

Does Somalia have a door with a No Entry sign on it? Is all access truly barred? This is a complex issue; however it seems to me that if some can have access to so-called “no access” areas, why can’t others try to gain the same level of trust that other organisations are enjoying?

I was also hoping Muslim countries could raise more money for Somalia. We need from them: awareness, allowing the visits of donors and the sending of funds. Astonishingly, some of those countries are committing a severe crime against humanity by preventing people saving lives.

I will tell you a story. During my brief visit at Benadir Children’s Hospital, three children died. Their parents didn’t even have enough money for a burial and coffin. Instead, they were wrapped in a dirty blanket, washed by tears of their mother.

Muslims reading about this scene- what do they feel in their heart of hearts? In the month of Ramadan, while these children are dying, some have a colourful table full of a variety of delicious dishes for Iftar. How do Muslim women feel when they hear about the mother? How do Muslim businessmen feel, when they are investing in Arab horses, private jets and Ferraris?

What will Ramadan bring for us if we don’t save these families and these children? For people who repeatedly spend money to visit Holy places: what is the benefit, versus the benefit of spending this money to save thousands of lives in Somalia?

For this month of Ramadan, we tell Muslims: Allah is very generous, for He gave us Ramadan. If we want to go to Heaven, we must help others. Putting our belief in action will clear this ugly scar off the face of humanity, and will prove that we will stop committing crimes against humanity.

Somalia - the crime of 21st Century Part 1

2011-08-24T11:39:00.000+01:00

We organised two small conferences in Nairobi last week; the first, convened by the Muslim Charities Forum, aimed to unite local faith based charities from Somalia and Kenya.

On the following day, 15th August, The Humanitarian Forum organised a larger conference with more diverse participants, agencies, international NGOs, plus local agencies.

I remember a word of wisdom from Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian Coordinator: ‘We cannot prevent drought; we can prevent famine. Access is difficult but not impossible’. I completely agree with Mark- in order to help, we must take that extra step and walk that extra mile. A few organisations managed to walk this extra mile and succeed. Why can’t others?

On the other hand, we can’t prevent famine alone- it’s all about working together for the sake of everybody involved. This is why I call it a crime of the 21st Century: we’ve let this situation drag on and on for two or three decades, without finding a concrete solution to the problem.

Early warning systems are all good; however, working together is the solution. East and West, North and South- partnerships should be based on trust and sincere cooperation.

I question international corporations, as well as every individual. My message is simple: None of us can run away from being responsible for Somalia and any other countries nowadays.

To be continued...

Love will keep us together...

2011-08-22T16:09:00.000+01:00

Last week I attended the funeral of the three young people who died during the riots in Birmingham. It seemed to me that the death of a child can bring unity to a community; a new spirit of youth engagement, respect, and peace building. Such a sad occasion can turn into community renewal and empowerment.

We all need to look after the welfare of Britain as a whole, not just the welfare of a group. For example, when there is limited police presence, we need to act on behalf of our community and call all parties for reasonable discussions.

The lack of volunteers in community projects and civil society in general is proving to be a stumbling block. More engaged communities means tighter bonds and a better relationship between civil society actors, community workers and the Government.

I was pleased beyond words to see the spirit of the local Muslim community. During Ramadan, while Muslims were fasting and praying at night, there were people protecting the homes of neighbours and friends.

We are all citizens of the same country. We should all look forward to building the future of the country, and strengthen the bond of social relationships between every community in our country.

My message is simple: I urge everybody not to think of revenge, as revenge has no value and no connection to faith. Faith is a great protector, our own police force inside our heart. If we strengthen our faith, we will be protected by our faith.

Love will keep us together: love for our community, love for our country and love for God!

The road to nowhere...

2011-08-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

I was in the Gulf when I heard what happened in the UK just last week. The horrific scenes made me question what’s happening in our country, in our land, by our people. What are the reasons behind what’s been happening? This is not the country that I belong to and have been living in for decades. These scenes could be seen in Hollywood or Bollywood, but not on UK streets.

What are the reasons? How can we readdress the multiculturalism, multi-faith, multi-ethnicity as a driving force in our life for the better future of our country? How can we stop going on the road to nowhere and get a sense of direction?

How can we build the real “big society”? I believe it can be done only by empowering every citizen, making them a pillar of this big society. There are some issues that need to be discussed:

How can we revisit university fees or social benefit cuts? How can we listen to the elderly who cannot pay electricity and gas bills during winter? How can we address the issue of the single parents? How can we open up about the young homeless people of London and Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow? How can we discuss the lower standard of our education? How can we talk about the National Health Service?

As you can see, there are many things to be discussed; however the scenes of last week are unforgivable and unforgettable. We need to sit down together as one family and every one of us must be able to speak up and be listened to with respect. We don’t want to see such scenes again anywhere.

The remedy for it is empowering the citizens of our country. Our big society should be based on empowerment before we can build a partnership between every citizen in the neighbourhood. Only then we will be able to stay off the road to nowhere and on track to deliver the best for our country and humanity.

I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families of the dead and my prayers for them and their families.

Yemen, the sleeping beauty

2011-08-17T09:44:00.001+01:00

For most of this year, Yemen has shown that it could be a failing state. According to a UN official, Yemen is heading towards so called “somalization”. The people of Yemen must listen to the logic of their existence in Yemen- we have 2 use certain criteria for our existence in certain parts of the world. We should listen, respect, comprehend, act collectively, stay focused on our country and accept everyone and anyone.

If we don’t use this criteria for Yemen, it could become like Somalia or any other failed state. This would have a great negative impact not only on people of Yemen, but on the region as a whole. There is a strong link between the neighbouring countries and Yemen. It is needless to say that there are a lot of Yemenis living in the region of the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen’s stability and sustainability should be used as a life saving machine to the whole region of the gulf. Please give Yemen the kiss of life so it will wake up from its slumber!

Gulf and MENA cannot live with an unstable Yemen.

On the move...

2011-08-15T11:57:00.000+01:00

Somalia is on the move with you wherever you go. I write this on my way to the humanitarian coordination meeting in Nairobi, organised by The Humanitarian Forum, OIC and Muslim Charities Forum.

I was in Saudi Arabia having a meeting with King Khaled Foundation and making Umhrah, when I received an urgent call from a friend of mine to jump on a plane to Beirut. Before midnight, we juggled with connections between Cairo, Jeddah and Beirut. I took a flight at 3:30 am to land in Cairo at 4:30, then to take another flight at 9am to be on time to meet the Chairman of the Houses of Parliament in Lebanon.

Humanitarian work doesn’t leave much time to sleep or rest in this holy month of Ramadan; however I was energised by the spirit of the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Houses of Parliament in Lebanon. They promised they would do their best to try and help as much as can when it comes to Somalia.

We went to see other organisations and tried to give them an insight of what is happening in Somalia. I was surprised by the number of people who wanted to do something; however they don’t know how to help or what to do. Our role was to give them direction and guidance and ask them to coordinate and network through local authorities.

Lebanon is not far from Somalia physically - only a few thousand miles separate them. Despite the distance, the spirit of the Lebanese people came flying faster than the speed of light to reach Mogadishu and the people in need.

I was awed by the spirit of a Lebanese young man, who started going on TV shows and talking about help for Somalia, raising awareness about the local needs, without even having the backing of an organisation! His name is Al Zaeem- a true leader. If there were many like him, they would do wonders knocking at the doors of authorities.

I came back in high spirits, with the newfound knowledge that Lebanon is not just a tourist attraction, but full of people who want to do something for Somalia.

Yours, mine and ours

2011-08-12T09:47:00.000+01:00

Your Ramadan, my Ramadan, our Ramadan. It is a God-given month to Muslims; a token of appreciation from God to Muslims. A time for reflection and a time for sharing and thinking about those less fortunate.

Let us make this Ramadan, our Ramadan, a time for giving! Support the people in need in all four corners of the world and share the joy of Ramadan!

$85 or how to help a family of refugees in Yemen

2011-08-09T12:43:00.002+01:00

Photo Courtesy of Adel Yahya/IRIN

Sometimes, the poor are quicker to help than the rich. You might not see this in Bollywood, Lollywood (Lahore), Collywood (Cairo) or Dollywood (Dubai). However, sometimes reality is even better than film.

In February this year, I was happy to witness the festival of giving, when Tunisian communities kicked into action to help the people fleeing the unrest in Libya. I recounted then the sheer joy I felt at the way people were coming out of their houses with whatever they had (Tunisia is after all a developing country) to help the newcomers with food, clothing, blankets and other essential items. The same happened in Kosovo in 1999, when Albanian families looked after the displaced.

The exact same thing is happening in Yemen, where people fleeing the unrest in Abyan in the South are being looked after by local communities, in host families and school halls. The poor are the first to give, without any questions asked or strings attached.

People fleeing their homes without as much as a piece of bread to eat are being looked after by impoverished families, who struggle themselves to obtain the next meal.

In this holy month of Ramadan, Humanitarian Forum Yemen has gathered together a group of local, solid and accountable Yemeni charities who will feed and clothe the poor families of people who have fled their homes in Southern Yemen. It costs $85 to help a family for a whole month. Please help us make them smile and feel secure.

The smallest of donations can contribute towards helping a family in need for over a month. Contact The Humanitarian Forum for more information in English and Arabic by phone: 0 (44) 20 7368 1645 or email info@humanitarianforum.org.

To donate online, click the donate button on this page.

Remember, $85/ AED 313/ QAR 310/ £52/60E can help a family in need for over a month!

$85 or how to help a family of refugees in Yemen

2011-08-09T12:36:00.004+01:00

Photo Courtesy of Adel Yahya/IRIN

Are you a Super Humanitarian?

2011-08-03T11:34:00.000+01:00

What do the best athlete, the best student; the best leader and the best reformer have in common? The same thing that makes you a super humanitarian. It’s the passion and drive for better. A Super Humanitarian believes in helping others and that others can help others as well. He/she who serves others without expecting gratitude or a reward is a Super Humanitarian.

You will not often find a Super Humanitarian in the front line. They are often at the rear, working in the background and enabling others to work as well. Super Humanitarians work to change the suffering and sorrow into happiness and smiles.

Super Humanitarians don’t just spend their wealth helping others. They spend their lives! They are the ones who inspire us to follow our dreams and shape our lives.

Super Humanitarians don’t even claim to know everything- they believe in listening, learning and engaging in discussions for everybody’s sake.

Your neighbour could be one. Your son or daughter could be one. Your wife could be one. Your mother could be one. Your friend could be one. The person who sells newspapers down the road from you and whom you say “Hello” to every morning could be one.

Tell me: Are you a Super Humanitarian?

Let us work together to make the world a better place and save humanity.

Never again

2011-08-01T10:34:00.000+01:00

I was in the UK in 1995, when I heard the story of a girl in Bosnia who had taken her own life. I was very touched by this story and now, as I look back, I realise nobody knew what was happening in places like Srebrenica. Nobody knew, even if we knew what was happening in Bosnia since 1992.

The wake up call came only later, as over 10,000 men were killed in the city and mass graves of unknown fathers, brothers and husbands were found.

We should never allow this to happen again anywhere: not Burma, DRC, Africa, Asia, South America or Europe. We need to stop people from ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing doesn't have boundaries, culture, religion or geographical location. It can happen in Germany, Poland or Bosnia.

We need to join our hands together and acknowledge that history will always carry such scars from the wounds inflicted on the face of humanity. Ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity- not just against one tribe or one religion.

Never again!

What is love?

2011-07-27T09:40:00.000+01:00

“Love is a four letter word, just like hope. Love is a translation of human feelings. Love is a positive phenomenon. Love is an art and artists are the great lovers of humanity. We see their love in paintings, we hear it in their music, feel it in their poetry.

When we love life, we try to maintain it. When we love our country, we try to develop it. When we love humanity, we try to serve it. When we love ourselves more than humanity, we destroy it. Love is a forward-looking process to care, build, develop, invent and leave a legacy for generations to come.

How can we smile without love? Love is a key component of every smile. The feeling is only the trigger and the heart is its engine. Smiling is a highly complicated process of chemical, physiological and psychic interaction and action. Smile is the image the eyes can see. It is one of the most difficult to things to draw; even artists fail to get it right every time.”

This was supposed to be my speech at the first anniversary of the flood in Pakistan. I decided to step down and let the children deliver a more powerful and dynamic speech that I cannot write or deliver. The children’s speeches and their heartfelt drawings reflected their feelings and love for their country.

Sometimes, children turn out to be the best speech writers and orators, sharing their smiles and love for humanity.

Rain for Somalia...

2011-07-25T10:00:00.000+01:00

If it doesn’t rain, people die. If it rains, people die. If we don’t see and listen, people die. We must become the drivers, instead of taking a back seat. We mustn’t fear bullets, climbing mountains, crossing borders or even spending money. If we are afraid, people die.

I am writing this from the refugee camp at Dadaab, Kenya, thinking that the time to look in and talk from the outside has finished. We must bring hope to the people who need it most and bring smiles to faces who have even forgotten how to smile.

The time has come to act and work with everyone to ensure that the people who need help will be soothed and the people who want to help will be able to do so.

May God save Somalia! May God save Africa! May God save the whole humanity!

The net works...

2011-07-22T09:30:00.000+01:00

While I was visiting a village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, I was discussing with Habib (Malik) about how can we network, communicate, connect, rebuild and strengthen our society. We arrived by the banks of the river Swat and admired the beauty of the high speed - flowing water.

We were surprised to see workers by the river bank, bending, cutting and connecting aluminium wires to create a net, strong enough to prevent stones from falling.

I asked Habib: “Which is stronger? The heavy, mighty stone which two men have to carry? Or is it the wire being assembled by a man? Habib answered: “It is the stone”.

I replied that he was right, as long as he was talking about only one wire. When a person creates a net with these individual wires, it can hold thousands of stones. It becomes the foundation on which a bridge can be built to ease the life of thousands of people. It can save their lives by preventing the flooding of the river bank.

An individual wire cannot stand against one stone. A network of weak wires can prevent thousands of stones from coming and blocking the river floor and save lives.

This has to be felt when we talk about our individual organisations. Do we need to network and connect?

We have to look at the practicalities of the difficult humanitarian circumstances we are facing in the world today. The scale and complexity of disasters demands that, no matter what resources we have or how good we can be, we have to work in partnership.

A single wire will never stand strong against tsunami of man-made disasters. If you want to break the wind and the speed of flow of the flooding rivers you have to create a network.

You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one... Nelson Mandela special

2011-07-20T09:49:00.000+01:00

Photo courtesy of thisislondon.co.uk

Is Nelson Mandela a beacon? Is he an icon? Or is he a legacy?

He is a living legacy, whom everybody admires and respects. He is a beacon across centuries, across cultures, faiths, history. He reminds us of a great man called Gandhi and of great leaders, dead or alive. In my opinion, we need a global figure identical to Nelson Mandela. I challenge each and every one of us to take Mandela’s legacy and make it a driving component of our culture.

Our philosophy of thought should fuel our dreams of respect and peace for mankind. Nelson Mandela and his vision for a better new world ought to be embedded in the hearts and minds of generations to come.

I am finishing the description of a new, better world, by saying that I cannot imagine a world without Nelson Mandela or somebody like him in it.

Read parts 1 and 2 of the “Imagine” trilogy.

Imagine all the people, sharing all the world... Part 2

2011-07-18T09:21:00.000+01:00

I believe that something has to give in order to have a brand new squeaky-clean world. For example, if we allow drugs to be planted around the world, how can we stop them coming near our families? If we allow people to get drunk and drive, how can we prevent them from having accidents and killing people?

A new world should start with a discussion about what is right for future generations to come. A new world doesn’t just start from scratch. It has to stand firmly on the foundations laid before, acknowledging the past achievements and giving credit to thinkers, prophets and messengers of God.

A new world should allow people to talk, engage and partner without any hidden agendas. A new world would not have elitist clubs, which dictate things left, right and centre.

I imagine a new world where everybody would be equal and everyone’s dignity has the same “price”.

To be continued...

Imagine all the people, living life in peace... Part 1

2011-07-15T09:56:00.000+01:00

Inspired by the famous song, a colleague asked me to imagine a new world. At first I was amused by the suggestion, but then, when I started thinking more seriously about the subject, I realised that the more we pencil in the details of an ideal world, the closer we are to overcoming challenges.

So let us imagine together what new look we would like the world to have. For example, we always go to the hairdresser, beautician, and gym and maybe even to a plastic surgeon for them to help us create a new look. It can even cost us all our life savings so that we can finally hear someone say to us: “You look different!” What they wouldn’t realise is that, underneath it all, we are still the same.

I ask you: if a surgeon could work his magic on the world, what would we want it to look like? Do we want this world with a new look, or a new world with a new look?

Realistically, the world in which we live in is run by business tycoons, corporations, arms and drugs dealers, human traffickers and adult industry bosses. If we weigh their power and wealth against sectors such as agriculture, education, health, local economy, we realise the world is not as it should be. And this is happening in countries all around the world- it doesn’t matter if it’s East, West, North or South.

To be continued...

Made in Yemen

2011-07-13T10:00:00.000+01:00

I was watching the news the other day and saw some brief images about the unrest in Yemen. It looked similar to other images of unrest within the MENA region. It may have looked similar, but different countries face different challenges. Where can we find the solution for each and every one? What is the price of such a solution?

In my view, it is fairly easy to put a solution on the table for Yemenis. I believe they need to focus on common and shared values that benefit all parties involved and the greater society. It has to be a “homemade” solution, made in Yemen itself. It seems to me that “imported” solutions don’t meet with success.

One of the reasons behind the MENA “quake” could be the weakness of the role of civil society. The local organisations need to be encouraged and supported to plant their feet firmly and be able to speak up.

There is a saying: “Wisdom is Yemeni, belief is Yemeni and jurisprudence is Yemeni”. We need to use this statement to find the solution for the sake of Yemen and the whole region.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

2011-07-11T10:00:00.002+01:00

Eight years ago, an important figure told me very lightly, as he would have been discussing the evening menu at the restaurant or the weather: “Sudan will not be just North and South. There could be 5 or even 6 Sudans”.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I dislike this statement. I don’t like seeing it in writing, I don’t like thinking about it and I most certainly don’t enjoy talking about it. I don’t like it because I know what the consequences would be if the statement came true.

It seems people have forgotten how to listen. Very few people listen to reason; gunshot noises become the answer to problems. The language of guns is deadly. The language of reason is life saving.

I am asking you: Do we need to pull the trigger or do we need to pull our hands together? Do we need to bomb the ground or do we need to harvest the bounty of the ground? Do we need to keep “them” out or do we need to keep our doors open for “them”? Do we need to sit and look at what’s happening or do we need to make it happen ourselves?

The most important thing is our intentions. Do we need one Sudan/two Sudans or do we need fragmented, conflicting Sudans? Is this our wish as Sudanese? Good intentions lead to many solutions on the table.

May God save Sudan and its people!

Halas.

2011-07-08T08:00:00.000+01:00

Famine in Somalia is by no means a new concept. It does not take us by surprise the way an earthquake or a tsunami does. We are not unprepared, yet we always seem to be bewildered by the situation. My question is: why? Why are we so surprised, when the cause is plain for everybody to see?

In my view, we are witnessing the results of long-standing negligence. After all, Somalia has been having problems for the past 40 years. It seems to me we are just cosmetically treating the problems, as we would do with a blemish on the skin. Put some cosmetic product on and pouf! The blemish is gone. Only you and I and the rest of the people know it’s not gone; the blemish is still there, covered skilfully.

During my last visit to Somalia, I was stunned to see that most INGOs were based in Nairobi, Kenya, not Mogadishu, Somalia. I was shocked and started thinking that maybe Nairobi was the new capital for Somalia and I was behind with the geo-political news. Somebody assured me that indeed, that was not the case and I was in the right place, due to security. Halas.

It is my turn to ask some uncomfortable questions: Who is creating this conflict? Who is alimenting this conflict? Who is creating the famine?

Remember: When you neglect your house, it becomes ruined. When you neglect your land, there will be no harvest and no food for you to eat. When you neglect your family, they will all become homeless. When you neglect your country and community, your neighbours become refugees and IDPs.

Do not cry for famine alone. Cry for stopping the conflict as well and cry for stopping the people of Somalia taking up arms.

7/7 and the TREE

2011-07-07T15:03:00.000+01:00

Today is 7/7. Yesterday was 6/7 and tomorrow will be 8/7. In the same way, today could be 9/11, yesterday could have been 9/10 and tomorrow could be 9/12. Around the world, people celebrate their birthday today, take their children to school, go to work, meet friends, pray, and eat pasta and sleep. However, 7/7, just like 9/11, is a date which brings sorrow at the horrifying deaths of people in London and New York. Six years have passed from 7/7 and nearly 10 years have passed from 9/11 and yet, the pain in collective memory will not diminish.

My question is: what have we been doing in order to prevent such terrible events from happening again? Are security measures working, or are they creating a bigger hole of mistrust?

The answer to my question should be the planting of a TREE (Trust, Respect, Empower, Engage) within local communities and in the midst of ethnic minorities. Everyone must feel they have a say, in order to make a positive contribution to society.

From my medical experience when treating the sick, we should turn to major surgery and amputation only as a last resort. There are preventive methods to be taken before reaching the stage of crisis. Letting everyone participate in the discussion is the first step.

Let us pray for the souls of those who lost their lives on this day 6 years ago and work hard together to make the good TREE grow!

If you leave me now...

2011-07-06T10:00:00.000+01:00

You’ll take the biggest part of me... The song continued on the radio and I started thinking about what happens when someone you trust and depend on leaves. More specifically, I was thinking about what happens when international NGOs and UN agencies leave a country.

My first question was: what were the INGOs actually doing when they were there? If the philosophy of the NGOs belonged to the HOPE spectrum (Humanitarian Operational Engagement), as The Humanitarian Forum stated two years ago, they will not leave a gap upon their departure. That is because, ideally, during the period they would have been building partnerships for operational engagement. To you and me, that means to leave capable, trained staff from the local communities to work towards achieving a great civil society. It is known as the hand in hand or “bottom-up” approach.

However, if INGOs do the opposite (most cases, some say), taking a heavy handed “top-down” approach, they will leave a bigger gap than the existing one! To you and me, that means nobody looking after the interests of the local communities.

I believe we need to learn that our resources do not belong to us but to the local community. Even our presence in the field doesn’t belong to our organisations, but to communities. All our fundraising activity is not for us, but for the local community.

We have to be accountable to local communities before we leave their country and ask them a few straightforward questions:” Are you satisfied with us or not? Do we need to stay behind or not? Who is our friend, if we have any?”

In my view, we can meet the standard of the people in need only by stretching out our hand to them and treating them as equals.

Libyan Diaries Part 2

2011-07-04T10:00:00.001+01:00

We are trying our best to extend our hands with limited resources to the west of the country as suggested by Panos Moumtzis, UN OCHA Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya. Our message is the citizen of Libya is to look at their needs through building one nation. If they meet the needs of the nation, their own needs will be fulfilled.

I remember when we were distributing the course graduation certificate, it felt like a celebration. People came wearing the best clothes they had at home.

The graduates weren’t just celebrating getting the certificate; they were celebrating the birth of the civil society in Libya. People didn’t want to end the celebration and we had to delay our departure for more than 2 and half hours.

To tell you the truth, the trainers were even in better spirits than the actual trainees. The experts were rejoicing even more than the students.

Our team said to trainees: “We have to come back to learn more from you. We gave you the tools; you gave us the meaning for life”.

This was the message for the visitors to the citizens of Libya.

Libyan Diaries Part 2

2011-07-04T09:31:00.000+01:00

We are trying our best to extend our hands with limited resources to the west of the country as Panos Moumtzis, UN OCHA Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, suggested to us. Our message to the citizens of Libya is to look at their needs through building one nation. If they meet the needs of the nation, their own needs will be fulfilled.

I remember when we were distributing the course graduation certificate, it felt like a celebration. People came wearing the best clothes they had at home. The graduates weren’t just celebrating getting the certificate; they were celebrating the birth of the civil society in Libya. People didn’t want to end the celebration and we had to delay our departure for more than 2 and half hours.

To tell you the truth, the trainers were even in better spirits than the actual trainees. The experts were rejoicing even more than the students. Our team said to trainees: “We have to come back to learn more from you. We gave you the tools; you gave us the meaning for life”. This was the message for the visitors to the citizens of Libya.

To be continued...

Libyan Diaries Part 1

2011-07-01T10:00:00.000+01:00

Quite often we visit other people to inspire them. Even when we visit refugee camps, community centres for the homeless or training facilities for the unemployed, we try to inspire.

Sometimes, it is us who are inspired. This is what has happened to The Humanitarian Forum team who has been in Libya for the past 3 weeks. We felt that the level of enthusiasm rose sharply from Benghazi to Al Bayda to Darna and Tobruk. In Benghazi, we trained 110 people from civil society organisations. In Al Bayda, the number of participants rose to 220, but Darna had the highest number of people in the workshop: 266.

People joined the training workshops in different cities such as Tobruk, Al Marj and Ajdabyia. Some participants travelled hundreds of kilometres every day to start the workshop before 9 and to leave workshop after 5. The level of discussion varied but the level of enthusiasm was the common factor.

In Benghazi, we found youth groups consisting of Libyans brought up in Europe and America. We found a city culture which allows you to talk to youth, governments, local organisations, as well as international organisations.
In Al Bayda, we found the local charity insisting on finding local donors to save costs of workshop.

In Darna, the local government and organisations did their best to offer us accommodation and the use of a conference hall to save more money.

We have been witnessing the birth of a new civil society sector, which will allow them to strengthen the nation.

To be continued...

2+1=...

2011-06-29T10:00:00.000+01:00

In Maths, two plus one always equals three.

In society, two plus one can equal a family.

In development, sometimes we have to force two plus one to be more than three. We do this by working with communities and local civil society, to ensure they are able to bring to the table that little extra bit. The more we collaborate, the more training workshops we design, the more civil society stands on its own two feet, the more we can add to the equation. The higher the equation, the better for mankind.

I am writing this from Benghazi, the soil where we have planted the seed of Humanitarian Forum Libya. Let us all be part of the equation and do our little bit for humanity!

The right time...

2011-06-27T09:24:00.000+01:00

I am writing this brief note for you from Libya. We have been busy facilitating civil society workshops in Benghazi, Al Bayda and Derna. The response has been overwhelming and I would like to thank everyone who attended.

There are great needs on the ground and insh’Allah, The Humanitarian Forum will work with the local civil society to bridge that gap. This is the right time!

I will write more in the next few days.

I leave you for now with a photo from the workshop in Benghazi:

Tools of change

2011-06-24T11:50:00.000+01:00

When I was visiting my homeland, I decided to gauge exactly the strength of the spirit of the youth. I had gathered a few of them in a group. They all had benefitted from an expensive education, were very smart and could potentially be the next humanitarian leaders.

I took them to a local trendy coffee shop in Cairo. I asked the group: “Look around you. Does this environment describe Cairo best?” They all denied it vigorously. We started walking together towards a rundown area. I ask them again: “Is this Cairo?” They stared in wonder and fear at the area, the houses and people.

I told them: “50% of people are living on the poverty line in and around Cairo. This is your reality, as future humanitarian leaders. You are the tools of change who can enable this to become so much more”.

Let us all be tools of change to make a difference around the world!

Rainbow, not Rambo!

2011-06-22T10:00:00.000+01:00

Picture courtesy of IMDB

I think some, if not most of you, would have seen a film about John Rambo. He’s a solitary fighter against the system. The film franchise may have amassed millions at the box office worldwide, however I believe in unity and partnership. If you fight alone, you might lose. Even Rambo got help in the end!

In my opinion, a cause is stronger if it is supported by more people, with diverse backgrounds. It shows cohesion, it shows that the cause appeals to humanity. A rainbow of people can be the difference between an organisation succeeding in its mission or a society becoming whole and inclusive etc.

Let us not be solitary Rambos, fighting our way through the world and mistrust guiding our path like a beacon! Let us be part of one solidary rainbow, joining our hands to create something special- as individuals and organisations, from different paths of life.

Just another case of history repeating Part 2

2011-06-20T11:24:00.000+01:00

In my previous blog I said I believe that the life of a being is sacred. I stand by it, and I will also share my belief that it is more sacred than the wealth of the land, value of oil or gold. A few moments of emotional thinking could make one lose their life, the lives of their friends, neighbours, family and country.

We need to think logically, not emotionally. When we shout, we cannot hear ourselves or the others; when we push, we cannot pull together. When we jump without help, we can land on our necks. Emotion is not the answer. Reason is the only way to peace in Abyei.

We shouldn’t pay attention to the skin colour, faith, language and history, when it comes to partnerships. We should only look at the common value: we are all here together now and until the end of time.

Let us cross the road of peace to reach social security and avoid the crossfire which could crucify us. May God bring peace to our families in Abyei, Sudan and all over the world!

Just another case of history repeating... Part 1

2011-06-17T11:47:00.000+01:00

I have spoken at length about the unrest in Abyei, Sudan just a couple of months ago. It makes me sad to talk about it again. It makes me even sadder to say that the situation hasn’t changed, maybe taken a turn for the worse.

Abyei is a crossroads between civilisations, cultures, history, faiths, values, languages. It is a crossroads between cities, towns, villages, rivers, valleys, forests and seas. It is a valuable link, a place for people to meet and discuss.

Crossroads should never divide, but bring people together in consensus and friendship. This makes me ask: what turns crossroads into crossfire in places like Abyei, Sudan, Africa and everywhere? Is it gold? Oil? Land? Water? Foreign policy? Anything else?

Who would even choose crossfire instead of a peaceful crossroads? Roads lead us to where we want to go. Fire makes us back away.

We should choose togetherness, as opposed to bewilderment and realise that the life of a human being is sacred.

To be continued...

A nation without a nation

2011-06-15T09:00:00.000+01:00

A poem from Abdi-Noor Mohamed brought Somalia’s plight at the front of my mind again. How would you feel if you lost your property, your wealth and your family? How would you feel if you lost your land, your friends and your job? After this, imagine how you would feel if you lost your country. This feeling is in the heart of millions and millions and millions of Somalis, whether living in Somalia, refugees in neighbouring countries or living abroad.

Somalis ran away for their lives from a scene of death, destruction, devastation and uncertainty. The discussion today is not about building a shelter, schools, a clinic or roads. It is about feeling the agony, sharing the dreams and helping to secure the future. It is about bringing safety and security to a generic “me”, a stateless, homeless and hopeless Somali individual. Please don’t hate me and then smile at me. Don’t kill my father and then offer me food. Don’t burn my home and then shelter me. Don’t destroy my country and employ me.

I want you to really look at me and treat me with respect and dignity. We can help create a state together. Let us go together down this road.

I leave you with the poem that moved me:

Somalia is a nation without a nation
It is a nation without a national unity
There is no place you can call a nation
As the nation lives in a nation of terror

Mogadishu is a city without a city
It is a city merged within the city
There is no place you can call a city
As the city lives in a city of death
Kismayo is a town without a town
It is a town within a town of no town
There is no place you can call a town
As the town lives in a town of fear
Somalia is a nation without a state

It is a nation lost in the middle of loss
As it is a nation of war at war with itself
It is a nation in endless despair
Fading in a horizon of terror
Thawing away like a wax
As it weeps Without tears
It is a nation in shock
Disappearing like a needle
Slipped in a deep chaotic well
As it leaves behind
Nothing but rings of good-byes
Abdi-Noor Mohamed

A Waltz for a night...

2011-06-13T08:00:00.000+01:00

The cost of a night at the most expensive hotel in Dubai could be up to $10,000. The cost of celebrity endorsement for a product could reach millions of pounds. The cost of seeing someone behind everyone’s back could cost you your livelihood, credibility and dignity.

The use of super-injunctions has caused serious debate lately, and for good reason. We are living in the age of Social Media. Information is exchanged at the speed of light and freedom of speech reigns supreme. However, one’s freedom needs to skirt around everyone else’s freedom.

I can imagine someone spending the night helping others, guarding their family, protecting their country, worshipping God, drumming up more business, or other life values. However, I cannot imagine that someone spending the night trying to deceive others will be protected by a super-injunction.

In a free, democratic and open society, a public figure is, as the name suggests, public. They conduct their lives in public; some are even considered role-models. I feel sorry for the public and the law; however I’m less sympathetic towards the people abusing them.

The issue of the super-injunction reminds me of a waltz played on a merry-go-round. The music plays on and on, the horses move round and round until when it runs out of money and the show stops.

Country for sale – Eliza Do-Little Part 2

2011-06-10T10:00:00.000+01:00

Photo courtesy of Moviemaker.com

After my colleague told me about one island nation planning to buy a new homeland due to its islands sinking because of climate change, they had another bombshell for me. They said, somewhere in the Pacific, another island nation is facing the same fate. The islanders, however, choose to do nothing to save their island, believing that God will do the work for them. While God’s mercy is all encompassing, even Noah built a boat, as it was God’s wish.

In all the scriptures, God says He will help us if we also help ourselves. Heaven does not shower silver, gold and food on the more laid-back, nor does it provide a person with oil, natural gas and minerals because they are kind.

We might agree that severe floods happen nearly every week in some part of the globe or another. That shouldn’t mean disaster preparedness should miss from the agenda of any country, be it island or not. We mustn’t be Eliza Do-Little, but strive to be Eliza Do-ALot.

I hope the people of this Pacific island nation listen to the wise words of God and act now to save their homeland, while we all play a part in solving this global problem: climate change. It is a shared responsibility, in my view.

Country for sale – are you interested?! Part 1

2011-06-08T10:00:00.000+01:00

I would have never imagined such a topic up for discussion. Then I heard a colleague mention that an island nation has set aside a portion of their budget to buy a new homeland when climate change will sink its islands into the ocean. For a moment I couldn’t believe such a thing. Afterwards, the shock gave way to dismay. Can you buy a country, a nation at that, as if you would be buying new furniture, or some books?

The island nation is like the fingerprint of God, a place of extreme natural beauty, however, it seems, its appeal has had tourists coming in droves and this has been its downfall. My question is, if we leave this island nation aside, what about the Bay of Bengal? What about the Nile Delta? What about all the other oceans and seas and islands? What about all other God’s creations: birds, animals, trees, flowers?

In my view, putting up a “for sale” sign or creating a listing on a shopping website isn’t the answer. We need to fight the causes of climate change with everything in our power. Let us not destroy the planet and sell not only countries, but the future of our children.

Sweeties?

2011-06-06T10:00:00.001+01:00

Colourful sweeties invoke no certain image or a solid view of the facts. We cannot treat the lives, future or dreams of people like they are sweeties. In my view, honesty sits at the base of journalism ethics.

Anyone with a piece of technology can do a “press release” in the form of an image or a declaration. However, I believe Social Media can be a sword with two edges. An ordinary sword can clear the path inside a thick jungle, but it can also hurt you. With Social Media, one edge leads to social change and empowerment. The other edge can hinder the same social change, by distorting events.

Citizen-journalists must be very careful when presenting facts and follow the same ethics as journalists. Only this way we will be able to build a better future for ourselves and humanity.

Mr. Ahmad’s story

2011-06-03T10:00:00.000+01:00

A long time ago I was in Almaty (Alma-Ata), Kazakhstan’s former capital and was interested in buying a cheap flat. I was introduced to Mr. Ahmad, a man in his mid to late 70s who wanted to sell his flat.

While chatting, I got to know Mr. Ahmad better and he shared his life story with me. What he had to say touched me deeply. He said he had been born in Dagestan and had been forced to leave his home, his family and his roots at the tender age of 16 and brought to work in Kazakhstan in the early 1950s.

Mr. Ahmad was a Muslim, but had been banned from performing any Islamic ritual, in public or in private up to 1991. He told me the system couldn’t break him and his faith and that he used to pray every night in his room, after locking the front door and pulling the blinds, and performed the 5 prayers all together.

Pausing in the midst of his story, he said he wanted to show me something very important to him. While I was thinking what awful life this poor man must have lead, he went to a dresser and opened one of the drawers.

He carefully took out an object wrapped in a scarf and brought it to me. I unwrapped the scarf and found a very old book, whose pages had gone crinkly from reading. I saw the book was the Holy Qu’ran. Mr. Ahmad told me it was the only treasure he had and the only thing that he had left from his father.

Mr. Ahmad’s story shows that neither money, nor bullets can change someone’s personal beliefs. This isn’t just valid for Muslims, but also for the other religions.

Cultural values can be acknowledged or changed only through peaceful dialogue with other cultures and respect between the different parties. I am inviting everyone to take a seat at the round table of equality and contribute to the mosaic of cultures for the best of humanity.

International Children’s Day

2011-06-01T10:00:00.000+01:00

Children in a Yemeni IDP camp

International Children’s Day should not be celebrated just on 1st June. It should be celebrated 365 days of the year, to make us realise that without them, there is no future for humanity. Children represent a bond between generations, cultures and society. They are a link to what was before and what will be when we are gone.

We need to end abuse, trafficking and the practice of child soldiers, keep children safe, healthy and in school. We are not on this planet just to produce children, but to prepare them for life and nurture them until they can spread their wings and fly on their own.

In my opinion, we should look at children’s issues all the time, instead of raising them one day of the year and burying them at the back of our minds the rest of 364 days of the year.

The jigsaw

2011-05-30T10:00:00.000+01:00

I remember the first gift my mother ever bought for me, 55 years ago. It was a jigsaw cube set, before jigsaw puzzles were readily available in Egypt. It had an image from a fairytale- with a king and queen, a knight in shining armour on a white horse, a dragon and a princess.

This memory came to me, as I was thinking our focus for society in the MENA region is like that of a child observing a jigsaw cube. Instead of looking at the overall picture on 8/16/32 cubes, we are looking at the bracelet the princess is wearing, or the horse’s hooves or the prince’s hairstyle. That is only a part of the cube, but not the whole image.

In my opinion, “WE” need to sit down and put all the cubes needed by the society together before we get to the stage of looking at the details on each cube. It is not too late to think collectively, focus collectively and deliver collectively as a nation.

Recipe for disaster Part 2

2011-05-27T10:00:00.002+01:00

Thinking about civil society in the Middle East and North Africa, I had an idea this morning and discussed it with my wife. I told her I wanted to host a big lunch and invite 50 of our friends and acquaintances. The twist was, we’d tell them they would bring whatever ingredients they would see fit, without any guidance from us, and we would cook whatever they would get.

Under these circumstances, we might find some buy rice and no meat, some may buy aubergines and no bread, some may bring us fish and no vegetables etc. Or they could all come with the same item, who knows?! It’s possible. After all, they have no idea if we originally wanted to cook lasagne, chicken curry, fish and chips, kebab etc. as we didn’t communicate with them.

My wife was bewildered. She asked: “If we don’t know what the people will bring, then how do we know what to cook?”

I answered: “I don’t know. It will create a mess and chaos in the kitchen.”

In my view, uncoordinated efforts are a recipe for disaster, whether in the kitchen, or in a nation’s “internal kitchen”. I believe we have to decide first what we want to eat, as a nation, and what we want our future to be. The chef responsible for the kitchen must cook what the nation wants, sticking to the recipe for success and avoiding the non-coordination recipe for disaster.

Food for thought Part 1

2011-05-25T10:00:00.001+01:00

I was thinking about the new society products in the MENA region, specifically what future we are going to draw for this area. The changes we have been witnessing made me think about the answers to some pertinent questions, such as: How? Why? When? How long? Another vital question is: Are we ready or not? If we are ready, where is the change taking us?

The easiest thing in life is to say “NO”, forbid people to do things and criticise others. The most difficult thing is to say “YES”, allow, encourage and lead. The NO philosophy will keep everyone at a standstill, with no way forward. The Yes philosophy will inspire people to act individually and collectively. When that happens, another set of questions arises:

a.    How do we manage the masses?
b.    Where are we taking them?
c.    What are they doing when they get there?
d.    Do we have the overall picture of what will be delivered in 5 or 10 years time?

We have been witnessing only the first phase of social change, taking the lid of the pot. The second phase is the most difficult- what do we do with the boiling water? Boiling water can help make good noodle soup, if you add the right ingredients. If you’re not careful, boiling water can also do lots of damage.

It is up to us to work together and make the best noodle soup for our society.

The vacuum cleaner

2011-05-23T10:00:00.000+01:00

At first people are enthusiastic when they buy a new “toy”, such as a vacuum cleaner. They use it all the time, keep their homes clean and the vacuum full. What happens after a while, is that the novelty wears off, and the vacuum stays empty.

I believe it happens the same when a country goes through a popular revolution. People are enthusiastic at first about removing the regime, but then they realise there is a vacuum, which cannot be filled immediately. Problems amount and the house gets dirty.

In my view, the steps to be taken to fill the vacuum and keep the home clean are:

•    Focus on the huge gaps, not the ones between the furniture- the ones in civil society.
•    Look holistically at the needs of the country, without a personal political, religious, philosophical or economic agenda.
•    See us as a dot in the digital image of our nation, whether we are an individual or organisation.
•    Enable ourselves to think constructively and channel our creative energies into building a new nation, higher than a skyscraper

Let us keep the nation, our home, tidy and the vacuum full!

Bridge over troubled water...

2011-05-20T08:57:00.000+01:00

The whole world is watching the birth of new society spirit in the Middle East-North Africa region. The spirit is flying high at the speed of light; however we must prepare its foundation and secure its landing to make sure it doesn’t break its neck.

I have been recently to some major towns in Libya: Benghazi, Shahad, Albayda and Derna. I went there to facilitate a series of workshops and give some speeches for the local non-governmental organisations. What pleased me the most was the participation of women (40-45%) and youth (20-25%). There was even one organisation for people with special needs.

I saw the potential of the Libyan society within the hundreds of people that attended the workshops and the speeches. I believe the society spirit can fly high. People have asked me how. My answer is quite simple, really: we must start building the civil society in Libya and create bonds between organisations, citizens and state. This will help create a better future for the society as a whole.

We are creating a bridge for society to cross to safety. Join us!

TV on/ TV off

2011-05-18T10:00:00.000+01:00

A while back, I was visiting an Arab country. I turned the TV on to have a quick look at the news. As I was switching between channels, I realised there were only 4 channels in the local language, out of a total of 18 TV channels. There wasn’t even a movie channel in the local language!

When I checked into a hotel, I realised things weren’t right there either, as in this Arab country, there were rent-girls everywhere. It seems to be a new “normal culture” in a certain growing city, located in a very conservative area.

My amazement continued to be fuelled on the streets, as there were hardly any locals in the shops or in company offices. In my view, countries should cherish their human resources, their citizens, as much as they cherish their natural resources.

The price to pay for losing our values, heritage and identity is far higher than the all the money in the world. Let us rethink our identity as individuals, communities, nations and heads of nations.

The great country of extremes

2011-05-13T10:00:00.001+01:00

While I was at the UNFPA conference in New York, I met an old friend who was security checked for such a long time, he missed his flight. Read the full story here. To cut a long story short, in the end, he managed to get on another flight and beat the “Computer says NO” virus. This is one extreme.

Today I want to talk to you about the other extreme, a very pleasant surprise for me. I was invited by the Imam of a mosque in New Jersey to attend a debate on Islam. Naturally, I agreed, and was picked up from Manhattan and dropped off in a run-down area of New Jersey.

I was stunned to see 20 young American military officers in the mosque, four of which were women. I was pleasantly surprised with the length of the discussion (2 hours) and the fact that the military officers asked questions on human rights, democracy, radicalism, the hijab, jihad, polygamy in Islam. They watched the sunset prayer and the late evening prayer.

After the debate, we talked privately, swapped business cards and promised Facebook adds. Then, the most amazing thing happened! The imam told me they were stopping overnight at the mosque, to learn more. They were also present at the 5am morning prayer.

I couldn’t believe it and I kept on comparing with what happened to my friend, who was checked until he missed his flight. It seems that military officers are taken from Thursday to Sunday to various churches, synagogues, mosques to understand different cultures and religions.

In my view, this initiative is welcome. However, I believe it takes time to heal a scar and even more time to heal a fracture. The US is healing the 9/11 bone fracture. We need to help America heal it and not let them be afraid of another fracture. We should be wound healers, not inflamers. Our role is to stitch back the wound and soothe the burning inflammation.

Turning the tables

2011-05-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

The whole world has been glued to TV sets, watching the simmering feelings of the people in the MENA region turning into boiling anger. It was like a pressure cooker, bound to explode sooner rather than later. The people who took to the streets expected change, no more. No one thought about who the change-makers should be.

The most difficult stumbling block is/was: do we have a plan for change? Do we have a structure or ideas for projects for our country? Do we have a collaborative vision of the future of our nation? These questions can be debated or some will even answer a straight “No”.

Everybody was happy to see change happening, whereas now people will stop and think seriously about where change is taking them. We have to be optimistic, but also realistic. I, for one, believe that we can go forward and turn the tables for the development of the society.

Niqab?

2011-05-09T10:00:00.000+01:00

In my opinion, niqab or non-niqab is not the issue. The issues are:

How we can understand each other’s feelings, culture, faith, history and moral values.
How we can become more inclusive, while implementing our lows into civil society.
How we can build inter- and intra-community discussions.
How we can manage our inter- and intra-generational dialogue.
How we can become a rights based society for all.

I believe the body cover or the lack of it aren’t the issue. It should be seen as a reaction of the people who feel they’re not being listened to, their faith is not respected and they are denied the rights of citizenship.

If we can address the above issues, we can see the niqabs or minarets aren’t the issue. The issue is the human feeling of the individual citizen (male or female) that they are not respected enough to have a role to play in building the society.

Such news headlines cause extremes to gain more ground, while the moderate, modern, liberal thinkers are left behind.

In the long-term, nobody wins in the race of politics, while culture, faith and shared values live forever with nations.

Let us end our term in office on a good note, making people wish we stayed longer or even want us back.

Computer says “NO”

2011-05-06T10:00:00.001+01:00

Security has the right to protect the safety of everybody living in society and security people have the right to be respected. They are civil servants, helping us live in peace and prosperity.

Security people would also give their life for us, to defend ourselves and the well-being of our country. Their work is vital, a point which I am not calling into question.

However, what I am calling into question is the criteria for the random checking of individuals. The right of being stopped is right. The right of knowing what you were stopped for is also right. Nobody knows why, except the computer.

On one of my recent trips, I met an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for some time. After exchanging pleasantries, he told me he had missed his flight. I asked him: “Why? What happened? Did you not get to the airport in time?” He replied: “My friend, I was there in plenty of time. I was stopped and security checked.” The surprise was plain to see on my face. Smiling, he said: “My friend, the computer said NO”.

His story made me think that we need to treat our security computers with the TREE (trust, respect, engage, empower) software. Otherwise, the “NO” virus will cost us trillions of dollars and will not prevent the radical extremists from winning more ground.

Cleaning = Caring

2011-05-04T10:00:00.000+01:00

Cleaning doesn’t just require detergent, brushes, shampoo, shower gel or bleach. Cleaning and being clean is a learned behaviour. It reflects the quality of the belief, translated into a community product.

We must stop pollution, clean the roads, drain the swamps and clean our walls. Before coming and teaching about God’s mercy, we need to ensure that our houses and the environment lack rubbish.

It is not good to go to a worshipping place and be deterred by foul smells or general uncleanliness and disrepair. It is not good to go to a community where people do best for themselves at home and forget about everything surrounding the house.

I believe that God’s goodness should bring out my goodness to be good to society, my community and the climate. Cleanliness is not just part of a humanitarian programme; it is a way of life, etiquette and also a ritual to get closer to God.

Prophets agree that cleanliness is a part of faith, and according to Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), cleanliness is half of faith. The reformers, prophets, messengers or thinkers who believe in their mission should advocate cleanliness.

Lack of cleanliness will bring with itself bacteria, germs and viruses, which can lead to illnesses, even plague and death. In the end, this will cause community fragmentation and destruction, with the potential to eradicate the humanity.

In my view, if we want to save the universe, we have to be clean, internally and externally.

The Benghazi Diaries Part 2 – Onwards...

2011-05-02T10:00:00.001+01:00

We attended the launch of a new organisation at the medical school in Benghazi. I was happy to see that in the lecture theatre there were around 100 female students, thereby cementing the role Libyan women have got at the moment and will have in the future in rebuilding Libyan society.

Our vision for Libya is RIGHT; delivering aid needs to go hand in hand with training. We cannot ignore the way organisations connect, network, manage the same way we cannot ignore people in need of food and water. The two actions don’t have to be mutually exclusive. With one hand we can feed the starving, while with the other hand we can strengthen the system and build local and regional infrastructures.

More time and resources need to be spent to ensure civil society in Libya has the training it requires.

To be continued...

The Benghazi Diaries Part 1 – The Ketchup Mix

2011-04-29T10:00:00.000+01:00

I am on my third visit to Benghazi, Libya in the past couple of months. This time, I was accompanied from Cairo by two expert consultants and a Social Media volunteer. Our aim was to assess the needs of the local civil society in Benghazi and strengthen the capacity of its small organisations.

We organised a training workshop for the female members and leaders of Benghazi SCOUT and I was impressed by these women’s drive to deliver, save and rebuild their country.

The next workshop I facilitated was one dedicated to “Principles of Result based Management and Needs Identification”. We decided to add to the mix the saucy flavour of Social Media sauce. An Egyptian volunteer provided the Social Media sauce and showed everyone in attendance its importance for NGOs.

The level of discussions, the drive behind the words and the diversity of topics was complemented by the fact that out of the 54 participants, 60% were women.

To be continued….

What’s next? Part 2

2011-04-27T10:00:00.000+01:00

We might decide to go together next. I am asking you: where is more difficult to go and what’s more difficult to do than what’s next? This is a very long term process, producing the next products. We could even become disorientated - too many “nexts”.

The leaders of one zone prioritize next with the leaders of other zone. Quite often it is not transparent enough for everybody or they don’t communicate enough with one another. That’s why their “next” could lead to a conflict of interest and create wars. The solution for this is called transparency of planning, recognition of the diversity of roles and the sharing of benefits.

Wouldn’t it be great if next global leaders were accountable to humanity, not to an election box?! The election box doesn’t know what’s next.

Can our “nexts” meet somewhere in the middle to exceed the expectations of billions of people? This could only happen if we next think together to have commonly shared values.

Are you ready for what’s next?

What’s next? Part 1

2011-04-25T10:00:00.001+01:00

What’s next is probably one of the biggest issues we face since we are born into this world. From the moment we are born, we start on our way towards advanced ways of thinking and a clear vision.

Then, when we can talk at length, we talk about the future holds in store for us, about disaster preparedness, prevention of conflict, economic solutions, fighting corruption, implementing democracy, changing governments, economic empowerment, building generations, securing humanity etc.

Next is a philosophy, a way of translating the feelings of people, dreams of nations, reality of truth and make inclusivity in communities happen. Next comes fighting poverty, treating illnesses, stopping deforestation and climate change.

Next I’ll need a loaf of bread, pair of shoes, a school place, a football ground, a park to play, access to transport, clean roads and a place to live. Each and every one of us has a next and there are over 6 billion of them.

What’s next? That is the challenge. We can move forward as global leaders, community workers, politicians, reformists, thinkers, professors, think-tanks and individuals.

What to do next? We must identify key priorities, locations and whom to take with us on this journey. Should we go down this road alone or together? The collective reading of our brains will help us understand the philosophy of our “nexts”.

To be continued...

Happy Easter!

2011-04-22T10:00:00.002+01:00

Easter is a time of reflection and renewal. As Spring renews the ground, flowers come into bloom and animals awake from their hibernation, so must we ponder on what has been and what there is to come.

Jesus (Peace be upon Him) and Lady Mary (Peace be upon Her) have carried a message of community cohesion and compassion. It is our turn to show the world we care, through our humanitarian actions.

I wish everyone a Happy Easter and a spring filled with peace and prosperity!

A goodbye to Tim and Chris...

2011-04-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

I was shocked to hear the sad news of the departure of Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, who were mercilessly taken from this world. I was deeply touched by the courage, spirit, vision and determination the two shared. They passed on struggling to reveal the truth about the atrocities committed.

For humanity, they were not just photojournalists. They were the messengers of the messengers sent by God. Their message will be everlasting and we must let our prayers for them soar up to God.

I don’t believe they have gone for good, as their work is still with us for eternity. Sometimes, revealing the truth leads to unnecessary losses of life.

God bless Tim and Chris! Let us remember them and their work for eternity.