More than a thousand people attended the live broadcast of the conference “Tulipe: 40 years of health emergencies around the world”. To mark its 40th anniversary, the Tulipe association organised a conference, which was broadcast live, bringing together health specialists, NGO managers and people working in the field to talk about what goes on behind the scenes, how humanitarian action is carried out and the issues involved in humanitarian operations in Ukraine and Lebanon. The event, moderated by journalist Constance de Bonnaventure, also provided an opportunity to discuss the commitment of pharmaceutical companies to Tulipe, as well as the five-year partnership between the Crisis Centre and Tulipe Support.
Patrice Carayon, Chairman of the association, introduced the event, pointing out that 2022 had been an exceptional year in terms of mobilisation and volume of donations. 140 tonnes of medicines and medical equipment were collected and distributed to 21 partner NGOs in 22 countries affected by war, disaster or acute economic crisis. “If we have tripled our activity, it is because of the war declared by Russia on Ukraine. This exceptional mobilisation was made possible thanks to the pharmaceutical and healthcare companies that provided medicines, financial donations and volunteers to support the association”, emphasised Patrice Carayon.
Patrice Carayon, President of Tulipe, spoke in particular about Tulipe’s work in Ukraine, Lebanon, Chad and Afghanistan.
A large-scale humanitarian operation is being prepared for Afghanistan
Patrice Carayon also mentioned Lebanon, a country where Tulipe’s work has been ongoing for more than two years following the terrible explosion in the port of Beirut, and Chad, a country supported by the association following the terrible floods last November. Lastly, Patrice Carayon mentioned Afghanistan, a country ravaged by war and which has suffered a terrible setback in recent months with the return to power of the Taliban, before handing over to Thierry Hulot, Chairman of Leem. Stéphane Romatet, Director of the Centre de Crise et de Soutien (Crisis and Support Centre), also spoke about the work carried out with Tulipe by this department of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which is responsible for monitoring, anticipating, alerting and managing crises abroad. ” We have decided to organise a major shipment of health equipment with Tulipe in the next few days to the French Mother and Child Hospital in Kabul, the only hospital still operating in the Afghan capital”, said Ambassador Stéphane Romatet, praising the five-year partnership between the CDCS and Tulipe.
Stéphane Romatet, Director of the Centre de Crise et de Soutien, announced a forthcoming humanitarian operation in Afghanistan with Tulipe.
Ukraine: first-hand accounts
The first round table of the conference then got underway. On the theme of “Ukraine: intervening effectively in a country at war”, Diana Dols, Director of Operations for Aide Médicale & Caritative France Ukraine, Caroline Antoine, Health Advisor for Action Contre le Faim, Antoine Reydellet, Fire Doctor with the CASC APPUI Search & Rescue and Olivier Poirieux, Vice-President of the association, held a fascinating discussion, moderated by Constance de Bonnaventure. The members of the panel spoke about the first months of humanitarian operations in Ukraine, the role of NGOs and their personal experiences, which were both moving and memorable.
The round table “Ukraine: intervening effectively in a country at war”.
Lebanon: taking stock of a country in distress
The second round table focused on the dramatic situation in Lebanon: a chronic economic and political crisis that is having a major impact on the lives of the country’s inhabitants. Oumayma Farah (Vice-President of theOrdre de Malte in Lebanon), Olivier Routeau (Director of Operations at Première Urgence Internationale), Dr Elie Haddad (President of the Euro Lebanese Medical Society Lebanon) and Alexandre Laridan (Director of Operations at Tulipe) took part in this informative discussion.
Participants in the round table “Lebanon: access to healthcare in a context of political and economic crisis”.
The conference was concluded by Thomas Borel, Secretary General and Director of Tulipe, who paid tribute to the association’s permanent staff: Valérie Sénéchaud, Alexandre Laridan and Mohammed Aidouni, as well as to Anne Carpentier, Tulipe’s head pharmacist.
