Ehssan Saleh Taieb, secretary-general of the International Islamic Relief Organization-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA), opened an international forum on humanitarian action in Jeddah on Wednesday.

Referring to a multitude of challenges confronting the humanitarian action nowadays due to wars, disputes, agitations and the perpetual political, economic and ideological crises, he said lack of security in most of the areas of humanitarian and relief work as well as the scarcity of resources and the restrictions and complications in the progress of such work have led to accumulation of problems and obstacles across the world.

“The situation necessitated organizing a genuine international forum, such as this one by highly reputable regional and international organizations comprising famous scholars and experts from around the world,” said Taieb.

Issues of specialization and professionalism are to be tackled in the academic sessions of the forum, where work papers and research projects related to each session’s title are expected to be presented at the forum, which ends Thursday.

Taieb said the inauguration of the forum confirms the pioneering role of Saudi Arabia in exchanging experiences and expertise in this field.

The forum is being held in coordination with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, International Committee of the Red Cross, Meddad Center for Researches and Studies, Qatar Charity, International Islamic Charitable Organization in Kuwait, Humanitarian Relief Foundation Turkey and World Assembly of Muslim Youth.