Qatar's 'Let’s Celebrate Eid Together’ initiative has won praise from various communities in the country with their leaders expressing gratitude to ministries and other partners.

More than 50,000 Eid food kits were distributed to expatriates under a joint initiative by several ministries and organisations with the involvement of expatriate forums.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the Ministry of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, Qatar Charity and Ooredoo joined hands for the noble gesture.

A total of 40 organisations co-ordinated with the MoI, received food kits and distributed them to people in need.

“The ‘Let’s Celebrate Eid Together’ stands as a testimonial for Qatar’s keenness towards ensuring the welfare of the expatriate communities, and leaves a strong message of togetherness and care,” the Indian Community Benevolent Forum president P N Baburajan said.

Riyaz Ahmed Bakali from Pakistani Community said Qatar is actively engaged in ensuring the welfare of all.

“Qatar pays special care to people in need and members of the expatriate communities. We owe our gratitude to Qatar for helping us work here and have a good life. Persons in need are given care very well. We are obliged to give back by supporting the country meet its requirements in various sectors,” he said, adding that volunteers along with community leaders ensured the food kits reached the right people.

Filipino community leader Henry Dimaano said initiative benefited thousands of his compatriots in the country.

"We received about 5,000 food kits from the Qatar government to be distributed to the community members who had registered through the Eid Food Kit Registration circulated a couple of days ago. A number of Filipino community leaders including the leadership of Filipino Muslim community in Qatar and some private entities volunteered to help us distribute the food kits to qualified beneficiaries,” he said.

The kits were distributed to the beneficiaries by making special arrangements, and volunteers along with drivers worked to implement the scheme. The organisations got applications from various parts of the country and beneficiaries received the kits after they were identified. Transportation facilities were arranged and the community members received the kits at their doors. The organisations carried out the activities in co-ordination with the respective embassies.

“Since 2008, all communities in Qatar have been in co-ordination with the Public Relations Department of the MoI for our peaceful life in Qatar. We have celebrated several Eids with the ministry and a lot of activities including sports, games, songs and shows were held as part of the celebrations. And this year, we celebrate Eid through this initiative,” said Anwar Hossain Akon, president of the Bangladesh Community - Qatar.

Mohamed Muktda Musalman of the Non Resident Nepali Association, praised the MoI for taking up efforts to keep relations between the Qatar government and the communities intact.

"The government is showing much interest in ensuring the welfare of all. And the initiative has come as part of its efforts to address the woes of people in need. Such steps tempt us to do more for the community and we are thankful for what the government is doing for us," he said.

"Pakistani community's generous members are always on the front line in times of crisis with the government," said Janan Bangash from Pakistani community thanking the organisers for donating Eid gifts for thousands of needy persons.

Expatriate organisations from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Gambia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Ghana, and Kenya were involved in the initiative.



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