The State of Qatar reaffirmed Thursday its commitment to continuing efforts to enhance the South-South cooperation, especially within the framework of the real opportunities it generates to support the endeavors of the countries of the South to achieve social and economic recovery, and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
This came in the State of Qatar’s speech delivered by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikha Alia bint Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, during the general discussion of the 21st session of the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation, which was held at the UN headquarters in New York.
Her Excellency praised the appreciated efforts of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) and the UN Development Program (UNDP) in supporting initiatives and activities aimed at strengthening cooperation among the countries of the South, stressing that the South-South cooperation has always been an important and vital issue for the State of Qatar. In this regard, Her Excellency highlighted that the State of Qatar chaired the high-level committee concerned with South-South cooperation in 2007, affirming the State’s keenness to be a platform to enhance the horizons of this cooperation and address common challenges, and translate that in many tangible steps.
Her Excellency drew attention to the State of Qatar’s hosting of the second South Summit in 2005, which resulted in the Doha Action Plan, noting that the State of Qatar looks forward to the third South Summit to be hosted by Uganda, as an impetus to stimulate actions that are in the interest of the countries of the South.
Her Excellency expressed the State of Qatar’s pride in hosting the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which was a pivotal event to support the efforts of many countries of the South and help the least developed countries to build more prosperous and resilient societies and economies.
Moreover, the State of Qatar co-organized the Ministerial Meeting on South-South Cooperation on the sidelines of the conference, which constituted an important station for renewing partnerships for workable solutions to support the implementation of the Doha Program of Action for the LDCs, Her Excellency added.
Her Excellency reaffirmed the State of Qatar’s keenness to continue providing aid, in line with its belief that the various challenges facing the countries of the South make cooperation and solidarity among them extremely important.
In 2021, the State of Qatar contributed more than USD 551 million to development projects and humanitarian aid, and it did not hesitate to support international efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Her Excellency said, highlighting that the State of Qatar provided QR 27,573,385,901 in aid to the countries of the south during the period from 2014-2021, which included governmental and non-governmental assistance for development and humanitarian issues. This assistance supported efforts to implement several sustainable development goals, including eradicating poverty, building sustainable cities and communities, creating decent work, promoting economic growth, education, health, and more.
Within the framework of the innovative initiatives supported by the State of Qatar, Her Excellency highlighted the notes included in the report of the UNDP director on the renewal of the partnership between the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and the UNDP for the period 2022-2025, and the State of Qatar’s commitment to provide an additional USD 10 million to support innovative work being carried out by 91 UNDP Accelerator Labs in more than 100 countries in the Global South, bringing the total support for the Lab network to USD30 million.
Source: Qatar News Agency
