Qatar has a distinguished record in mediation, says envoy to the UN

Qatar’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Dr Hind Abdulrahman al-Muftah, has said that Qatar has a distinguished record in mediating and solving regional disputes.Delivering a lecture at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) on Wednesday on the role of Qatar in international affairs, Dr al-Muftah said that Qatar is a model for all fields of global governance, especially in sustainable development and environment protection, soft power (through sports, media, cultural institutions, foreign investments, etc.).She added that Qatar is one of the world's few nations that has made significant progress in achieving diverse economic stability and food security.Dr al-Muftah said the country has also launched initiatives to boost renewable energy and energy utilisation efficiency.The envoy indicated that the initiatives are demonstrated in Qatar's adopting the first carbon-neutral edition of the FIFA World Cup in the history, through the installation of stations that measure air quality and gas emissions at stadiums, building eco-friendly stadiums which run on renewable energy, water rationalisation and sustainable waste management, which enabled the country to present a model and an extremely vital lesson that small and medium states are capable of attaining excellence in hosting major global events.Dr al-Muftah emphasised that Qatar’s robust economy, which is driven by its huge reserves of natural gas, offers the country significant financial resources that can be used to support global governance initiatives, as well as enabling the country to undertake a key role in global energy markets as one of the largest producers of natural gas in the world.She stressed the importance of highlighting Qatar's efforts in solving the energy crisis in Europe since the start of the Russian-Ukrainain crisis, and this is due to Qatar's leading role in producing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) and exporting it to all over the world.The envoy also pointed out Qatar's participation in various peace negotiations and dispute resolution initiatives, such as brokering a truce in Yemen 2008-2010, hosting the Lebanese National Dialogue, patronising Darfur negotiations, signing of Doha Document for Peace in the Sudanese region, hosting the talks between the US and the Afghan Taliban that concluded with the signing of the peace agreement by the parties, patronising the negotiations between the Chadian parties that culminated in the signing of the Doha Peace Agreement.Dr al-Muftah also spoke of Qatar's role in addressing urgent international crises, including its role in addressing the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and mitigating its effects by providing various kinds of international aid that benefited more than 80 countries around the world, its support for the efforts related to fair and equal access to vaccines via the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the COVAX mechanism, as well as supporting the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the humanitarian initiative to provide vaccines for the most vulnerable people, especially refugees, displaced, and migrants.She pointed out the importance that Qatar attaches – within the framework of its international relations – to bilateral and multilateral co-operation and work with regional and international countries and organisation.Dr al-Muftah said that this is evident by Qatar’s membership of more than 328 Arab, regional, and international organisations and bodies in various fields.The envoy added that Qatar National Vision 2030 affirms Qatar's keenness to effectively participate in the field of international co-operation and to contribute to establishing international peace and security by adopting and supporting political initiatives and providing development and humanitarian assistance.In that regard, Dr al-Muftah pointed out that every year Qatar organises the Doha Forum and the Interfaith Dialogue Conference, as well as various international conferences to discuss current issues and challenges.She also referred to Qatar's increased participation with international organisations – such as the UN – and its participation in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.The envoy highlighted that Qatar was at the forefront of countries that helped mitigate the impacts of the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria, co-ordinating with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross.Qatar also spared no effort in securing flights to transfer the Afghan people and the refugees from Afghanistan to safe countries around the world in co-ordination with international governments and institutions while affirming its commitment to work with the international community to provide needed humanitarian aid and support for the refugees.Dr al-Muftah stressed that the recent opening of the UN House in Doha is a significant step to promoting the existing partnership between Qatar and the global body and its specialised offices, agencies, and funds.It is expected that the UN House in Doha will contribute to promoting Qatar's role in the international political map, especially in the field of multilateral diplomacy, and will contribute to enabling the UN offices to carry out its mandate and implement its programmes and activities, especially those concerned with the region, effectively and efficiently.