First Lady attends Shafallah Forum

First Ladies of Sri Lanka, Namibia, Poland, Macedonia, Kenya and Ghana are among the dignitaries expected to attend the Fifth International Shafallah Forum, being held from today to Tuesday in Doha, Qatar.

The event is being organised by the Shafallah Centre for Children with Special Needs under the patronage of Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.The hosts are Shafallah chairman Hassan Ali Bin Ali and Cherie Blair (founder, Cherie Blair Foundation).The First Ladies are Shiranthi Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Penehupifo Pohamba (Namibia), Anna Komorowska (Poland), Maja Ivanova (Macedonia), Dr Ida Odinga (Kenya) and Ernestina Naadu Mills (Ghana).

The keynote addresses are to be given by Baroness Valerie Amos (UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs), Prince Mired Raad Zeid Al Hussein (Jordan) and Rima Salah (deputy executive director, UNICEF).Scheduled to be attended by nearly 300 participants, the forum will examine the 'Impact of Natural Disaster, Conflict, and Displacement on the Disabled.'

The topics are the impact of ongoing crises and conditions faced by persons with disabilities in refugee camps and conflict zones in the Middle East and Africa and how recent natural disasters in Japan, Haiti, Pakistan, and the US have affected persons with disabilities.