On the sidelines of fifth UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5), to start tomorrow, UN House will be inaugurated in Doha showing decades long close partnership and coordination between Qatar and the United Nations.
The opening of the UN House will definitely add new dimensions to the relationship between the two sides and will consolidate Doha’s position at the international level, after Qatar became hub of global diplomacy and centre of mediation for conflict resolution in recent years.
Qatar has made – and continues to make – financial contributions to various UN bodies and entities, aimed at supporting projects in the areas of development and humanitarian aid. On the sidelines of the 2018 Doha Forum, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Secretary-General of the United Nations H E António Guterres had signed several agreements demonstrating Qatar’s active role in achieving international peace, security and sustainable development.
The agreements included a $500m (QR1.82bn) pledge to various UN programmes and the establishment of four new UN offices in Doha.
The agreement had further pledged annual support to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef), the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
As part of its long-standing commitment to the UN and less developed nations, the State of Qatar had signed an agreement with the United Nations in October 2021 to host the United Nations’ 5th Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5). The first part of the conference in 2022 culminated in the adoption of the Doha Programme of Action (DPoA) for the LDCs for the Decade 2022–2031, which would help these nations address challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic, economic crises and climate change. In October 2021, Qatar pledged an additional $16m to support the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) global efforts to fight poverty, climate change and inequality across the world.
Director General of the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) Khalifa bin Jassim Al Kuwari recently said that the State of Qatar has become one of the largest donors and supporters of the United Nations. The total financial assistance provided by Qatar to UN organisations amounted to nearly $900m, from 2013 until mid-2022, QFFD’s Director said.
Qatar has also supported several initiatives, including the Sports for Peace and Development Initiative, which aims to utilise sport as an enabler of peace and development through the building of an inclusive sports environment for young people and future generations.
