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World Volunteer Conference Kicks Off in Abu Dhabi

General view of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 3, 2019. Picture taken January 3, 2019. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed
General view of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 3, 2019. Picture taken January 3, 2019. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed
    Asharq A-Awsat
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World Volunteer Conference Kicks Off in Abu Dhabi

General view of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 3, 2019. Picture taken January 3, 2019. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed
General view of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, January 3, 2019. Picture taken January 3, 2019. REUTERS/ Hamad I Mohammed

The 26th World Volunteer Conference opened on Tuesday under the theme of “Volunteering for the Common Good: Making Life Better for People and Communities” and will run until October 27 at ADNOC Business Center, Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

The conference is the largest global gathering of volunteering experts and is held every two years. It aims to tackle many of the challenges and issues in volunteer work and highlights the culture of volunteering in promising sustainable development of societies and countries alike, WAM said.

The event is hosted jointly by the International Association for Volunteer Effort (IAVE) and Emirates Foundation, the national organization of the UAE set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives to strengthen community resilience.

According to WAM, the conference is expected to attract around 1,000 participants from more than 100 countries, representing all the stakeholders of the volunteer community, including individual leaders, civil society organizations, government agencies, academia and businesses.

Abu Dhabi won the bid among three shortlisted cities and was selected by the IAVE to host the 26th World Volunteer Conference, making it the first capital in the Middle East to host the global conference.

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Syria's New Rulers Urge US to Lift Sanctions During Visit to Doha

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, meets Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, January 5, 2025. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, meets Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, January 5, 2025. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
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Syria's New Rulers Urge US to Lift Sanctions During Visit to Doha

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, meets Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, January 5, 2025. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, meets Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, January 5, 2025. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's new rulers said on Sunday that US sanctions on Syria were an obstacle to the war-torn country's rapid recovery and urged Washington to lift them during a visit by Syrian officials to Qatar.

"These sanctions constitute a barrier and an obstacle to the rapid recovery and development of the Syrian people who await services and partnerships from other countries," Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani told reporters after meeting with Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister.

"We reiterate our calls for the United States to lift these sanctions, which have now become against the Syrian people rather than what they previously were: imposed sanctions on the Assad regime," he said.

Shibani, on his second foreign trip less than a month after former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted by opposition factions on Dec. 8, said that Qatar will be a partner in the new phase in Syria.

Doha had not normalized ties with Assad over his government's violent response to 2011 protests and backed the opposition instead.

Shibani, who was joined by Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and Head of Intelligence Anas Khattab, met with other senior Qatari officials including Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, a Qatari official told Reuters earlier.

Shibani presented the Qataris a clear roadmap for the near future in Syria and steps that would be taken by the new Syrian administration, Al-Khulaifi told reporters after the meeting.

"We are working together to prevent any foreign interference in Syrian affairs," Al-Khulaifi added.

Shibani said the roadmap is meant to "rebuild our country, restore its Arab and foreign relations, enable the Syrian people to obtain their civil and basic rights, and present a government that the Syrian people feel it represents them and all their components."

He is expected to also visit the United Arab Emirates and Jordan this week to "support stability, security, economic recovery and build distinguished partnerships," according to his account on X.

Shibani embarked on his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday where Saudi officials discussed how best to support Syria's political transition.