QNA
Doha
Since joining the United Nations (UN) in 1971, Qatar has been keen to support UN initiatives in various fields, through close cooperation with various relevant UN bodies, including supporting international development efforts, maintaining international peace and security, promoting human rights, and providing humanitarian relief, and other collective initiatives taken to address current or future challenges facing the world.
Qatar is proud of its distinguished and active role in the United Nations, which is referred to by the international organisation and member states on issues raised on the international scene. The State of Qatar is known for its serious and fruitful partnerships with the UN bodies and its achievements and respect for international commitments and initiatives in various fields to support multilateral international action to meet common challenges.
As a translation of the existing partnership between Qatar and the United Nations, Doha, which the United Nations views as a prestigious global platform for dialogue, has become an international center for many of the UN’s main organizations.
This communicates the message and signifies that Qatar is at the forefront of countries in the region that is relied upon as a reliable partner of the UN.
As a culmination of that partnership and Qatari support for UN initiatives, Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador HE Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, announced that the expected UN House in Doha will be inaugurated during the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) hosted by Qatar in the first quarter of next year.
The UN House will contain offices for United Nations organizations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Regional Center for Training and Capacity Building in Combating Cybercrime, and the Analysis and Communication Center of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and Doha’s International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism.
The inauguration of the UN House comes as one of the fruits of the support by Qatar, which was announced on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2018, to fund UN organizations with 500 million dollars to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two sides. This stems from the depth of the solid relationship between Qatar and the various UN institutions, in line with the State of Qatar’s policy and joint responsibility as an active partner in the international community towards achieving international peace and security, sustainable development, combating terrorism and other common challenges.
This was not by chance. Qatar ranked sixth globally and first in the Arab world as one of the largest contributors to multi-partner funds in 2017, based on its firm belief in the importance of strengthening international cooperation to reach the desired goals within the framework of an effective international partnership to promote the lofty purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and achieve human well-being.
QFFD signed a partnership agreement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) for 2021-2025, contributing 10 million dollars to support the coalition’s efforts for the fair and sustainable access of vaccines to low-income countries, in line with the importance that the State of Qatar attaches to strengthening international support to ensure easy access to vaccines, HE explained.
Qatar was also a founding investor in the UNDP’s Accelerator Lab Network, allocating a multi-year contribution totaling $20 million to support the network of laboratories that provide innovative solutions and measures to the current challenges caused by the spread of COVID-19.