Doha: The State of Qatar participated in the high-level pledging event to support the humanitarian response in Afghanistan for the year 2022, via video conference technology. Qatar was represented in the high-level event by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi, and Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H E Dr. Ahmed bin Hassan Al Hammadi.
The event was attended by Secretary-General of the United Nations H E Antonio Guterres, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator H E Martin Griffiths, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom H E Liz Truss, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany H E Annalena Baerbock, and a number of senior officials.
In the opening statement, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs announced an additional pledge from Qatar of $25m to support the humanitarian response in Afghanistan for the current year. He extended his deep thanks to the Secretary-General of the UN for holding this conference, and expressed happiness for Qatar’s participation in hosting the event along with the United Kingdom and Germany, given the important opportunity it represents to shed light on the escalating humanitarian needs in Afghanistan and mobilize international efforts to respond to them.
He said that the humanitarian and development challenges that the Afghan people have suffered due to the prolonged conflict, droughts and the Coronavirus pandemic have exacerbated in recent months in light of the current economic and monetary crisis, and Qatar hope that the efforts of the international community will contribute to sparing the Afghan people a real catastrophe and enabling it to address all humanitarian, economic, social, security and human rights challenges and preserve the gains and progress that have been made.
He added that Qatar has been continuing its commitment as a loyal international partner to Afghanistan, and building on its impartial mediation and effective international relations to enhance international consensus on Afghanistan and ensure the interest of its people, and in recent months, Doha hosted many stakeholders, including the Afghan caretaker government, the United Nations and international partners, and intensive contacts and consultations were held with them to achieve stability in Afghanistan and address urgent issues.
He pointed out that Qatar is undertaking pioneering efforts to facilitate the evacuation of Afghans and foreigners at risk, and that, with the participation of Qatar in providing urgent humanitarian aid, it has launched an air bridge from Qatar to Kabul, through which more than 700 tonnes of urgent food and medical supplies have been transported so far, with efforts from Qatar Fund for Development, Qatar Charity and the Qatar Red Crescent, and in cooperation with UN agencies -the WHO, Unicef and the UNHCR.
