Qatar is considered one of the largest donors and supporters of the least developed countries, with the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) providing $708mn over the past year in humanitarian and development aid. Doha is set to host the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) from March 5-9. Qatar's efforts have been able to contribute to achieving sustainable and lasting peace and development, and to making change in fragile and marginalised societies around the world, by supporting basic resources, in addition to implementing projects and programmes for a number of UN organisations to back the least developed countries.
HE the Director General of the QFFD Khalifa bin Jassim al-Kuwari indicated in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the QFFD is committed to financing development and relief projects around the world, as this had a great and direct impact on people's lives, in more than 42 countries in 2022.
Al-Kuwari said that Qatar's financial contributions included many vital sectors, with $101,300,000mn having been provided to the education sector, $71,300,000mn to the healthcare sector, about $443,200,000mn to relief aid sector and nearly $92mn to other development sectors.
The QFFD also supported climate change projects.
As part of its long-term commitment to the UN and the least developed countries, Qatar signed an agreement with the UN in October 2021 to host the LDC5, culminating in the adoption of the Doha Work Programme for the Least Developed Countries for the period 2022-2031, which would help these countries face the challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the economic crises and climate change.
The role of Qatar has emerged during the pandemic crisis as an active, initiating and influential partner, whose actions precede words by providing contributions that exceeded $140mn to support international efforts to combat the epidemic, and provide aid to 92 countries through the QFFD, believing in the importance of global solidarity to overcome the effects of the pandemic, especially on the least developed countries.
Qatar also signed a basic contribution agreement with the World Health Organisation worth $10mn to support the organisation's work program and the initiative to accelerate the availability of anti-Covid-19 tools in countries most in need.
In October 2021, Qatar pledged an additional $16mn to support the international efforts of the UN Development Program (UNDP) to combat poverty, climate change, and inequality around the world.
In addition, Qatar pledged an additional $25mn to support the international humanitarian response to the worsening economic crises in the world.
Qatar has been keen to make voluntary donations to many UN funds and programmes, which aim to alleviate poverty, spread basic education, and emergency response to disasters and crises.
Between 2000 and 2014, Qatar donated to more than 41 UN bodies or entities.
The Director General of the QFFD said that the fund has many achievements in this field, the most important of which is the 'Sport for Peace' initiative, which was launched in co-operation with Qatar Charity, and consists of several projects that use sport as a tool to enhance humanitarian and development efforts to consolidate peace in less developed countries and fragile societies.
He pointed out that the fund launched, on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, the 'Women in Conflict Areas' initiative, which seeks to empower girls and women in conflict areas and marginalised communities, by supporting their resilience, according to the five pillars of the sustainable development goals.
Al-Kuwari noted that the QFFD signed a number of agreements in 2022 with international institutions, such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to launch the Nanmo (growing together in Arabic) initiative concerned with climate change and agriculture in Africa, while continuing co-operation with the Orbis International to complete the process of addressing blindness and eye diseases in Ethiopia.
Qatar also signed an agreement with the International Organisation for Migration to support Syrian refugees in the Beqaa Valley and northern Syria, in addition to an agreement with the UN Office of the Special Representative of Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Qatar also signed seven agreements with the ministries of education in Uganda, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, South Sudan and Haiti, where these agreements focus on opportunities to provide quality education for children outside schools and return them to regular schooling, in co-operation with the Education Above All Foundation and the Educate a Child program to break barriers and face difficulties, targeting about 1.6mn out-of-school children.
At the regional level, Qatar signed an agreement to fund the UNDP to support the rescue operation of the FSO Safer in Yemen in addition to cooperation with the GCC Interconnection Authority(GCCIA) to develop the GCC electrical interconnection system and connect to the southern Iraq network. At the local level, the QFFD works with a number of Qatari institutions, including Qatar Charity and the Qatar Red Crescent Society, to provide development and urgent assistance.
It also works with the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corp, the Internal Security Force (Lekhwiya), and the Qatari Amiri Air Force to send urgent aid to Somalia, Somaliland, Afghanistan, South Africa, Pakistan and Sudan. One of the QFFD's most prominent initiatives in the education sector is the Qatar scholarships programme, which supports Qatar's efforts in its pursuit of the fourth goal of the sustainable development goals, which is quality education, by offering scholarships to male and female students from developing countries to complete their university education. (QNA)
