The Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) marked its 40 years of existence with a colorful ceremony at the Katara Cultural Village yesterday.

The celebration was attended by top officials, dignitaries, businesspersons and international guests from various related organisations, reported Gulf Times.

QRC chairman Dr Mohamed bin Ghanim Al Ali Al Maadheed welcomed the people attending the ceremony and thanked all those who participated in making the QRC’s activities a huge success.

The QRCS, which was established on March 20, 1978, boasts of a track record of great achievements and milestones. These successes helped shape the arena of charitable and social work in Qatar and also enriched the country’s bright image as a major humanitarian player around the world, according to The Peninsula.

The QRCS has grown considerably over the years. Around 8 million people benefited from its different humanitarian and relief services in 2017.

While around one million people in Qatar benefited through QRCS health centres, around seven million people were touched in different conflict and disaster-hit areas.

QRCS employs almost 800 people inside Qatar and more than 1,000 internationally.

The money spent by QRCS on humanitarian relief efforts to help those in urgent need amounted to almost $1.5bn recently.