Speaking at the opening session of the international conference on threats facing freedom of expression, Dr Ali bin Smaikh al-Marri said that it was unacceptable to impose mass sanctions against civilians or journalists for any political differences. Officials from over 200 international rights groups, press syndicates, think-tanks and universities are taking part in the two-day conference at Ritz Carlton Doha.

Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah said diplomats now have to share the international stage with many more actors, including civil society organizations. [...] In his speech titled “Transfor­mation for 21st Century Diplomats”, the Sultan said long-established and reputable cause-and-issue oriented international NGOs make invaluable contributions to alleviating human suffering.

Soon after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, international aid began pouring in — but observers noted a degree of confusion and a lack of coordination among the many groups trying to help. [...] The remedy for this — and for a host of other problems commonly experienced in humanitarian settings, she thought — could be an online reference work presenting the results of field research, scholarly analysis and informed debate for the NGO community: A humanitarian encyclopedia.