Doha, Qatar: Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani affirmed that the well-established and expanding strategic partnership between the State of Qatar and the United Nations stems from Qatar’s commitment to active participation as a member of the international community, and its recognition that the scale of the challenges facing our region and the world exceeds the capacity of any single country to address them alone.
She emphasised that multilateral action within the framework of the United Nations is the optimal means of addressing these challenges.
Sheikha Alya said, in an exclusive statement to QNA on the occasion of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 81), that the partnership between the State of Qatar and the United Nations is based on three pillars: a steadfast commitment to the UN Charter, international law, and multilateral international cooperation; sustained practical support for the Organisation and its agencies; and an active contribution to developing solutions.
She added that this partnership underwent a qualitative transformation in 2018, when HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani directed that multi-year support be provided to United Nations organisations amounting to $500m over a period of ten years.
As a practical implementation of this directive, several agreements were signed on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2018, in the presence of HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The agreements covered the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), among others.
In this context, the then-Secretary-General of the United Nations described these agreements as a qualitative leap in the Organisation’s relationship with the State of Qatar, laying the foundation for a lasting strategic partnership. He also described the relationship between the two sides as a model partnership.
This process acquired an institutional dimension with the opening of the United Nations House in Doha in March 2023. Today, it hosts fourteen offices of UN agencies and organisations, making Doha a regional hub for coordination, dialogue, capacity-building, and responses to regional and global challenges.
As for the prospects for the partnership with the United Nations, she said they are moving toward greater integration of roles, from mediation and conflict resolution to development and humanitarian action.
