Qatar has been playing a leading role in the global efforts for sustainable development, undertaking a number of bilateral and multilateral efforts in partnership with the United Nations and other international agencies.
Addressing a United Nations Economic and Social Council meeting, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs H E Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi reaffirmed Qatar’s commitment, under the guidance of Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to support the least developed countries.
Qatar has achieved astonishing progress in its ambitious 2030 development plan. In 2008, the State adopted Qatar National Vision 2030, a blueprint for transforming the country into an advanced society and securing a high standard of living for its people for generations to come through sustainable development in all fields. Guiding principles for QNV 2030 are: Protecting public and personal freedoms; protecting moral and religious values and traditions; and ensuring security, stability and equal opportunities. Since the adoption of QNV 2030, the country has made a lot of progress on four interconnected pillars of the development plan: Human development, social development, economic development, and environmental development.
However, the efforts of Qatar for sustainable development are not restricted to the national level. The country is a key partner of international organisations in providing support through bilateral and multilateral agreements, and helping underdeveloped countries in addressing challenges and achieving inclusive and sustainable growth. Qatar is also hosting the second part of the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in March 2023, bringing together world leaders, civil society, the private sector, and others to build new plans for the delivery of Doha Programme of Action over the following decade.
Qatar has also supported the United Nations Development Programme’s accelerator labs network, with a contribution of $20m. Doha has also announced $25m for humanitarian work in Afghanistan. In 2020, Qatar committed to financing of $533m to many partners in the field of development and humanitarian assistance. This included donating $10m and signing agreement with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance to enhance equitable and sustainable access to vaccines in lower-income countries.
As the host of LDC5 next year and as a partner of UN agencies, Qatar is uniquely positioned to contribute to and take forward the global development agenda and especially help the least developed countries in addressing the pressing challenges including climate change.
