Manama: Saudi Arabia has announced the establishment of the International Camel Organisation, a non-profit entity to be headquartered in Riyadh.
Th organisation was established on Friday by its constituent assembly made up of representatives from 96 countries who met in Saudi Arabia at the end of the six-week long third King Abdul Aziz Camel Festival held south of Riyadh.
Saudi Camel Club supremo Shaikh Fahad Bin Falah Bin Hethlen was unanimously elected to a five-year term as chairman of the body.
Delegates pointed to the Riyadh Charter as the basis for the organisation’s profile and activities. The charter highlights the role of camels in world history and in the cultural heritage of many countries and the importance of nurturing camels and supporting those who dedicate themselves to taking care of them.
The organisation’s list of objectives includes ensuring that camels and camel-related activities nurture mutual understanding, friendship and community-building, promoting and developing the moral, scientific, technical and basic skills needed to study and nurture camels. The activities are also aimed at enhancing relations with Arab, regional, continental and international organisations, institutions, committees and associations, and non-governmental organisations specialised in camels.
The organisation aims to expand the base of practice, equipment and sites for camel activities all over the world, ensure fair competition and raise awareness about the harmful effects of stimulants on camels.
Encouraging scientific research on camels and enriching world literature with books and translations by supporting studies, authors and translators were also listed as goals, the Centre for International Communication (CIC) said.
The organisation will hold conferences, courses, seminars and will issue regulations aimed at enhancing safety training for all its members.
It will also establish research centres and provide technical expertise as well as research grants in various fields relating to camels in order to enrich cultural and scientific knowledge in the field on a global scale.
The new entity will publish magazines and newspapers and will launch TV, video and radio channels in order to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge through educational, cultural, scientific, historic, sports and media programmes.
The organisation’s establishment was announced as the Nomad Games dedicated to preserving traditional nomadic culture were opened in Riyadh.
The first Nomad Games were held in 2014 in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyzstan with the participation of 580 athletes from 19 countries. The games are biennial and will take place next in Turkey in 2020.
