Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, Wife of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE Ruler of Dubai, participated in the annual meeting of the Global Humanitarian Forum (GHF) in Geneva yesterday.

Princess Haya, one of the founding members of the Forum and a UN Messenger of Peace, listened along side Kofi Annan and other participants and experts to real stories by five young individuals who came to the Forum to present the actual affects of global warming and climate change on the livelihoods of their communities.

The compelling stories and testimonies by the young participants moved the audience to give these young people a standing ovation.

At the opening ceremony, former UN Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan, President and Founder of the GHF, underlined that the main objective of the Forum is “to bring together different actors that don’t normally work side by side in order to overcome the humanitarian challenges” on the table. During the meeting the participants would discuss and consider “practical solutions that can empower vulnerable communities”, said Mr Annan.

This, coupled with adaptation, would help these people to protect themselves against the worst effects of climate change. Adaptation would involve “business opportunities” emphasized the Forum’s President, leading to cooperation with the private sector. The latter had an important role to play in preparing the world for climate change.

“We are here to apply our different expertise and to broker new partnerships to tackle the humanitarian impact of climate change,” Mr Annan told the delegates.

The Global Humanitarian Forum is a non-partisan, open and proactive forum that favors a cross-cultural, cross-sectoral and pan-regional approach while working within a spirit of responsible global citizenship and high ethical standards and common humanitarian values and principles. It will seek to engage a wide range of groups as stakeholders to ensure the cross-fertilization of ideas and a multidisciplinary approach. The GHF will also strive to be at the cutting-edge of humanitarian policy. It intends to place particular emphasis on helping to generate increased investment in prevention-based activities.