BY SACHIN KUMAR
DOHA: Qatar’s financial assistance to crisis hit countries has jumped 300 percent in the last five years. Qatar’s total international development assistance rose to $1.8bn in 2013 from $433m in 2008, according to Qatar’s Fourth National Human Development Report.
A large chunk of Qatar’s assistance goes to countries in the Arab region. For instance, in 2013, around 93 percent of Qatar’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) went to countries in the region. Syria was the largest recipient, receiving $422m with much of this going for humanitarian purposes. Morocco, Palestine, Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon are among main recipients.
Qatar is swift in responding to help countries facing natural calamity. It recently sent assistance to Nepal which was hit by massive earthquakes.
Earlier it had supported victims of floods and earthquakes in Pakistan, Haiti and Iran, as well as victims of the tsunami in Japan.
Based on data collated by the Global Humanitarian Assistance, Qatar is the 20th largest provider of official humanitarian assistance among the top 20 government donors.
A large share of Qatar’s total international assistance comes from private non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and foundations. In 2013 slightly more than one-fifth of the total aid was made by the NGOs.
The largest of these NGO donors being Qatar Charity, Sheikh Eid Charitable Association, the Sheikh Thani bin Abdullah for Humanitarian Services (Raf) Foundation, Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and the Qatar Red Crescent (QRC).
Qatar allocated an average of around 0.5 percent of its GDP to ODA between 2008 and 2013. Qatar’s ODA in 2013 was 0.87 percent of GDP which exceeded the international target.
As part of its wider efforts to support international cooperation, Qatar also contributes to various regional and international development funds, including the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, Arab Monetary Fund, International Fund for Agricultural Development and Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ Fund for International Development.
“Helping countries achieve internationally agreed development goals is a major objective of several projects under Qatar’s international cooperation framework. Poverty reduction, including through employment creation in infrastructure projects, improved health and education as well as better management of the environment, are the main focus areas of Qatar’s international cooperation,” said the report.
The Peninsula
