Jeddah (UNA) – Ambassador Dr. Arwa Hassan Al-Sayed, member of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission and Head of the Human Rights Affairs Sector at the Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs, began her speech at the Ramadan evening organized by the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission and the Union of News Agencies of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation by expressing her sadness at the attacks to which the Gulf countries are subjected during the holy month.
She added, “We gather today in this blessed month, the month of mercy and tolerance, and we strongly condemn the blatant attacks targeting the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. These Iranian attacks, which targeted countries not party to the conflict, not only constitute a violation of international law, but also a blow to our shared Islamic values that forbid terrorizing innocent people, especially during times of worship and tranquility.”
In her speech, she asked: Our fundamental question is: How can humanitarian work build coexistence in the presence of parties that insist on destroying the foundations of security and undermining the social fabric? These attacks confirm what we are proposing today; that material relief alone is not enough unless it is accompanied by a deterrent human rights framework that protects the human being and preserves his dignity from exploitation and aggression.
She continued, “Our true religion, which made ‘feeding the hungry’ and ‘relieving the distressed’ among the highest acts of devotion, has never viewed humanitarian work as a mere material act, but rather as a moral message based on preserving human dignity.”
She added, “No one can deny the existential impact of our countries’ and organizations’ efforts in saving millions from the specter of annihilation—a pioneering role that our Islamic nations have always played. However, the responsibility we bear compels us not only to extend a helping hand but also to scrutinize the quality of the results and the sustainability of the impact through three main axes. The first axis is dismantling the imbalance of power and the trap of ‘host communities.’ Conflict-blind humanitarian intervention reproduces crises instead of resolving them. When aid mechanisms treat beneficiaries as mere numbers or mouths to be fed, they strip them of their agency and create an unequal power dynamic between donor and recipient. Tolerance is not built between a superior party and a party deprived of its will; tolerance is built between equals who possess dignity.” She emphasized that the greatest danger lies in exclusionary intervention. Focusing aid exclusively on displaced persons and ignoring the abject poverty of the host neighbor creates fierce competition for resources, which quickly transforms into a feeling of injustice, and then into rhetoric Hatred (Xenophobia). In order for humanitarian work to be a peacemaker, it must adopt a holistic development approach that supports both the displaced and the host, and transforms them from competitors to partners in recovery.
Regarding the second theme (psychological infrastructure – the missing link for coexistence), he said: “We excel at building tents and providing physical medicine, but we leave minds and souls bleeding. We cannot speak of tolerance in societies torn apart by deep psychological trauma. A mind exposed to the horrors of war or the terror of blatant attacks enters a state of constant agitation and distrust of others.” He pointed out that integrating mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS) as a mandatory component of every humanitarian intervention is a prerequisite for repairing the social fabric, because a psychologically ill society cannot be tolerant; it is this society that first needs healing and a return to balance in order to see humanity in the face of its neighbor.
She added: The third axis: moving from the framework of charity to the framework of human rights. As the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, it is our responsibility to change the narrative, and we must move from the mentality of relief as temporary charity to the mentality of relief as an inherent right coupled with accountability. She pointed out that framing humanitarian work in terms of rights protects it from politicization and from the militarization of aid, which is used by some powers to impose destructive agendas, and this represents a death blow to any attempt at coexistence.
Dr. Arwa recommended that the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission adopt several policies, including mandating psychosocial support by allocating a fixed percentage of relief budgets to integrated psychosocial support programs. She also recommended a dual-beneficiary strategy, requiring parallel support for infrastructure development in host communities to mitigate social tensions.
It also recommended that there be a community impact observatory by creating a mechanism to assess conflict sensitivity and ensure that aid complies with human rights standards.
Its recommendations to the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission concluded with the protection of human sovereignty, so that the use of humanitarian work or military intimidation as a tool of political pressure on safe countries is criminalized.
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