Procter & Gamble (P&G) has partnered with Majid al Futtaim Carrefour to run the Pampers-Unicef campaign in Qatar.

The initiative, part of a mission to raise over a million vaccines for Unicef’s global campaign to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT), gives Qatar’s consumers the chance to contribute by buying select products in-store at all Majid al Futtaim Carrefour outlets until September 20.   

For each product bought during the campaign period, P&G and Majid al Futtaim Carrefour will donate one vaccine each to Unicef’s global vaccination campaign.

The brands supporting the campaign are Always, Ariel, Crest, Downy, Fairy, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences, Koleston, Olay, Oral B, Pampers, Pantene, Tide and Wella.

“MNT is an easily preventable disease; yet, to this day, a baby dies every nine minutes from MNT,” said Dr Ibrahim El Ziq, Unicef’s Gulf area representative. “The support of P&G and Majid al Futtaim Carrefour will save the lives of millions of mothers and children.”

Now in its ninth year, the Unicef-Pampers partnership aims to eliminate MNT in developing countries by 2015. Consumers have the opportunity to show their support for an initiative that is helping protect more than 100mn women and their babies around the world.

The 1mn vaccine target builds on the Gulf relaunch of the Pampers-Unicef initiative, in partnership with Majid al Futtaim Carrefour, last December.

 

Autumnal
equinox
on Sept 23

 

This year’s Autumnal Equinox in which the days and nights are of equal duration is on September 23, according to a statement from Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.

This year the equinox is at 5:29am on September 23, after which the hours of darkness will increase and those of daylight will decrease, it said.

As a result there will be a drop in temperatures in the days that follow the equinox and the weather will change with some precipitation in the form of light rain, which is expected in early October.

The shortest day and longest night could occur on October 21, which could mark the start of the winter (Winter Solstice).

Between September 23 and October 21 is the Wasm (when Truffles or Faqaa may be germinated). This period extends perhaps from the first half of October to the first half of December when rainfall could be at the maximum levels.

Call for promoting the culture of nuclear safety

 

QNA/Vienna

 

Qatar has stressed that the obsession with safety and security of potential nuclear accidents preoccupies the international community because of the long-term and cross-border impacts, expressing its concern about the quantitative and geographic expansion in the establishment of power reactors, which requires the promotion and sustainability of nuclear safety.

Ali Khalfan al-Mansouri, Qatar’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to the UN and international organisations in Vienna, called on, at a meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) under item (4) “Measures to strengthen international co-operation in nuclear, radiation, and waste transport safety” in September 2014, to spread the culture of nuclear safety and make it inherent in the nuclear technical community by promoting best practices related to nuclear safety and strengthening them in accordance with the scientific and technical developments and potential risks.

He pointed out to the need to involve the public and civil society organisations in promoting the culture of nuclear safety in order to recognise and strengthen it.

Qatar confirmed that the international conventions in the field of nuclear safety adopted under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency are binding agreements and constitute the international legal and regulatory framework, he said, adding that they also constitute a regulatory framework for regional and international co-operation.

Qatar also stressed that regional and international co-operation is an expression of shared responsibility to address the challenges and risks that threaten everyone and it enhances the capacity of countries to implement their commitments in the field of nuclear safety.

Ambassador al-Mansouri noted to the two worst nuclear incidents in the world which are the Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters, believing that reactors’ safety resulting from a natural act requires to pay greater attention.

He welcomed activities of the IAEA to the evaluate the seismic safety in the existing nuclear facilities and alert to the risk of earthquakes in the evaluation of new sites of nuclear facilities.

He also called on countries that have existing or under construction power reactors to give this issue more attention and apply all safety standards at these facilities, as well as to inform the member states, in particular neighbouring countries, about their proceedings and allow visits by scientists wishing to verify the safety of the facilities.

The Qatari ambassador stressed that the security of power reactors and research centres represents an aspect of nuclear safety, and the other aspect, which is no less important, is the military nuclear activities which take place outside any international regulatory controls, considering that the existence of nuclear weapons and stockpiles of vast quantities of nuclear material used in weapons poses a threat.

 

Advisory Council team
for Manama meeting

 

A delegation from the Advisory Council led by its Secretary General Fahd bin Mubarak al-Khayareen left yesterday for Manama to participate in the third annual Conference of the Association of Secretaries General of Arab Parliaments, which will be on September 17-18.

The delegation was seen off at the Hamad International Airport by a number of senior council officials.

The Association of Secretaries General of Arab Parliaments was established in 1994 on the sidelines of the 92nd Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), held in Copenhagen. The move came to reinforce co-operation among Arab parliamentary institutions and to promote them , as well as to exchange expertise and co-ordination, in an effort to provide better supportive services for Arab parliaments.

 

Forum aims to bolster
Qatar-Germany trade

 

QNA/Doha

 

 

The Ministry of Economy and Trade in co-operation with Qatar Chamber, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Qatari embassy in Germany will hold today the Qatari-German Economic Forum. HE the Minister of Economy and Trade Sheikh Ahmed bin Jassim bin Mohamed al-Thani will chair Qatar’s delegation.

A statement released yesterday by the ministry said that the one-day event aims at bolstering bilateral trade and increasing Qatari exports to the German markets. In addition to creating new investment opportunities by establishing joint projects by companies and businessmen from both countries.

The forum will discuss three main issues including challenges facing Qatar in the energy sector and joint investment opportunities available, co-operation in the field of research and development as well as presenting the programme of investment opportunities for World Cup 2022.

Trade volume between Qatar and Germany reached QR7.5bn in 2013. Exports were worth QR1.8bn while imports stood at QR6.4bn. There are 139 German companies investing currently in the Qatari market. Some 27 of these companies are fully-owned by German parties with a total capital of QR1.4bn. The remaining 112 companies are comprised of partnerships between Qatari and German sides, they have a total capital of QR1.1bn.