The State of Qatar reiterated its commitment to continuing the provision of all forms of support necessary for the activities and programs of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Addressing the General Debate of the 72nd session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Program, HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri said that the State of Qatar looks forward for the Global Compact on Refugees to contribute to strengthening the global response, especially in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. HE Al Mansouri said that the issues of asylum and refugee are of great importance to the world for the time being, due to the continuous increase in the number of refugees, the deterioration of their conditions, and the widening circle of conflicts and wars, in addition to natural disasters, climate change and other crises that cause the displacement of millions of people and force them to leave their regions and countries. Meanwhile, HE the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar expressed concern over the negative impacts of the COVID pandemic on the health, economic, social and living conditions of refugees, displaced persons and the hosting communities, commending all efforts made to ensure refugees' access to vaccines. HE Al Mansouri called for accelerating the removal of all obstacles that limit vaccination campaigns for refugees and address the issue of inequality in the distribution of vaccines. He expressed regret over the spread of hate speech and negative reactions against the refugees in a number of parts of the world, indicating that they are victims who were displaced from their homes in search of safety. HE Al Mansouri noted that the State of Qatar and the Qatari charitable and humanitarian institutions are keen on strengthening and developing strategic partnerships and coordinating efforts with many international humanitarian organizations in order to support refugee issues, improve their living conditions and alleviate their suffering in various parts of the world. He referred to various aspects of support provided to refugees and the hosting communities, including protection, provision of humanitarian and medical assistance, implementation of relief and development projects, rehabilitation of vital facilities, provision of educational opportunities for children, especially in conflict areas, provision of job opportunities for young people and helping them build their capacities and skills. HE added that the volume of Qatari governmental and non-governmental contributions to the UNHCR during the current year - up to September 27, 2021 - amounted to approximately $40 million. He noted that the State of Qatar granted scholarships to a female Afghan robotics team known as the Afghan Dreamers to study at Qatar Foundations schools, which reflects the commitment of the State of Qatar to guarantee the right to education, and to enable them to contribute effectively to rebuilding their country. He underlined that the Afghan people, in light of the current conditions, deserve the support of the international community by providing humanitarian and development assistance, stressing that this assistance should be independent and separated from political calculations. ​ ​

HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani chaired the first session of the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, where Her Excellency opened the Committee's general debates of its 76th session. Last June, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously elected HE Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani to chair the Sixth Committee at its 76th session. After her election, HE Sheikha Alya affirmed the State of Qatar's keenness to chair the Sixth (Legal) Committee of the General Assembly, as it is the main forum on legal issues, and the State's firm belief in the rule of law and commitment to international law and its critical role in stabilizing and strengthening international relations, and achieving the goals of the United Nations, which its charter formed the legal basis for the work of the international organization. Her Excellency said that she will work closely with all Member States, in a spirit of cooperation and coordination in all matters relating to the work of the Committee, and will do her utmost to ensure that work is in accordance with the contexts adopted in this Committee, which is of great importance to the international community. The Committee, which began adopting its program of work by consensus and discussing the item "Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism", is one of the main committees in the United Nations specialized in international law and draft international treaties and agreements are submitted to it, in addition to many issues of critical importance to the international community, including measures to combat terrorism, the rule of law, reports of the UN International Law Commission and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, and other topics that represent a priority for the international community. The work of the Committee includes a large number of important issues and items for the international community to strengthen international law, as the Committee will continue its work until the end of next November.

HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva Ambassador Ali Khalfan Al Mansouri delivered the statement of the Arab Group during the sixty-second series of meetings of the assemblies of member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Delivering the speech in the name of the State of Qatar in its capacity as the coordinator of the Arab Group, HE Al Mansouri said that the Arab Group affirms its interest in the work of WIPO and its keenness on the continuous development of the global intellectual property system, while taking into account the Development Agenda recommendations, with the aim of taking into consideration the priorities and needs of developing countries and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). He explained that the Group welcomes the achievements that have been made in this field, which are contained in the reports of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP), and supports the intensification of efforts in the coming period to complete the implementation of the recommendations that have been delayed, especially due to the disruption caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, which led to failure to adhere to the timeframes that were set for implementing these recommendations. "Our group also supports, in this context, the completion of the work of the WIPO Assembly, which was postponed from last year due to the pandemic," Al Mansouri said. He expressed the Arab Group's welcoming of or the medium-term strategic plan for the period 2022-2026 for WIPO, expressing full satisfaction with the decisions of the Program and Budget Committee (PBC) regarding the revised policy on languages at WIPO. He added, "The Arab Group realizes the pivotal importance of WIPO's work in enhancing the ability of member states to benefit from the intellectual property system to achieve their socio-economic development goals, and affirms its readiness to engage in constructive and positive discussions in this field." HE Al Mansouri called on member states to consider positively the continuous calls for the inclusion of the Arabic language in WIPO's systems, in particular the Madrid International Trademark System and the Hague International Design System. He indicated that the Arab Group has worked continuously during the last period to achieve its goals in sustainable development and building a knowledge-based economy. It supported the ongoing negotiations in the Organization to develop global protection laws, in particular the negotiations of the Intergovernmental Committee on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights and the ongoing negotiations of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC). He said: We look forward to following this approach and achieving the largest possible consensus among member states".

Today, the National Human Rights Committee celebrated the anniversary of World Teachers’ Day, which was approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization “UNESCO” to commemorate the signing of its recommendation and the International Labor Organization of 1966 regarding the conditions, rights and responsibilities of teachers. In this context, Mr. Abdullah Ali Al-Mahmoud, Director of the Public Relations and Media Department of the National Human Rights Committee, said that after 18 months, the world has lived in the face of the (Covid-19) epidemic, many sectors of life have been affected, and there has been stagnation in all its vital areas, including the educational process. Therefore, as we move on the path of recovery and reconstruction, the World Teachers’ Day for 2021 has focused on providing teachers with the support they need to contribute to the recovery process of the education movement on the face of it. He also noted the achievements made by the State of Qatar in the educational movement, starting with the infrastructure of educational institutions and the educational and administrative staff, up to the humanitarian initiatives through the Education Above All Foundation, which launched the "Educate a Child" initiative, a Qatari initiative that struggles to save the world's children from ignorance, as it is a major humanitarian project at the global level, resisting the course of world events that have been exhausted by epidemics

Mr. Jerome Lambert, MP from the French province of Charentes and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the France-Qatar Friendship Group in the French General Assembly, congratulated the State of Qatar on the occasion of the Shura Council elections. He told Al-Sharq, "As a representative of the French people in Parliament and a member of the France-Qatar friendship group, I can only offer my congratulations and expressions of elation to our counterparts in the Qatari Shura Council on the occasion of these historic legislative elections.it is indeed a great progress and achievement in the path of change and profound development in the State of Qatar." He added: The State of Qatar is a young country and it is relentlessly striving to make its mark within high-end international standards. And these Shura Council elections are a stable and successful step in this direction. “Greetings and sincere encouragement from Paris on the occasion of this distinguished electoral event.

HE Assistant Foreign Minister and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater held separate meetings in Washington with HE Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter, HE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Richard Yoneoka, HE Deputy Assistant Secretary for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim, Deputy U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Richard Nephew, HE Senior Bureau Official Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Nancy Izzo Jackson, HE Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Dean Thompson, HE Senior Director for the Middle East at the National Security Council Barbara Leaf, and HE U.S. Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking. The meetings dealt with reviewing bilateral cooperation and the latest developments of preparations for the two countries' strategic dialogue. The meetings also dealt with the latest developments in the region, including security, political, and economic conditions in Afghanistan and the latest developments of the process of facilitating travel from and to the country. There was also a focus on the importance of continuing humanitarian support, and reiteration on the rights of all Afghan people to education.

The State of Qatar has reiterated its commitment to actively contributing to international efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development, pointing out that it has not failed to provide support to the efforts of many countries and international organizations to confront the global health crisis, stressing its keenness to take the necessary measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic within a perspective that respects and promotes the human rights of citizens and residents of the State of Qatar alike. This came in a statement made by HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani at the beginning of the general discussions of the Third Committee of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The statement stated that the State of Qatar was keen to take the necessary measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, within a perspective that respects and promotes the human rights of citizens and residents in the State of Qatar alike, focusing on the groups most affected by the pandemic and its consequences, including the elderly, women, children, and persons with disabilities. The statement of the State of Qatar singled out the category of migrant workers, as the necessary precautions were taken to protect them by providing vaccines, occupational safety and health conditions, and establishing control and accountability systems for employers. Also, it pointed out that the State of Qatar is now ranked second in the world in terms of the percentage of the population that has received one dose of COVID-19 vaccinations and fifth in the world in terms of the proportion of the population that has been fully vaccinated. Furthermore, it renewed the commitment of the State of Qatar to provide support to the United Nations Center for Training and Documentation in the Field of Human Rights for Southwest Asia and the Arab Region established by General Assembly Resolution No. 60/153 of December 16, 2005, calling on member states to support the draft resolution on the center submitted to the Committee. In conclusion, the statement affirmed the commitment of the State of Qatar to actively contribute to international efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development and to protect and promote human rights for all without leaving anyone behind. ​

His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani, Deputy Emir and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Qatar University, chaired the first meeting of the Board of Trustees for the academic year 2021/2022, which was held at the Emiri Diwan this morning. At the beginning of the meeting, The Council reviewed the achievements of its decisions and recommendations for the fourth meeting of the academic year 2020/2021, then discussed the topics on the agenda, and took the appropriate decisions on them, including the approval of establishing a sub-specialty in railway engineering at the College of Engineering. The Council also approved the renewal of Dr. Omar Muhammad Al-Ansari. The council also reviewed a report on the results of Qatar University in the world rankings of universities 2021, where the university maintained its presence in the club of the top 250 universities in the world in the QS classification and the best 350 universities in the world in the classification of THE.

The State of Qatar and the United Nations signed an agreement on hosting the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha from Jan. 23 to 27, 2022. The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of the State of Qatar's mission to the UN in New York. HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani signed the agreement on behalf of the State of Qatar and Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States Courtenay Rattray signed on behalf of the UN. The convening of the LDC5 comes in light of the changing global scene and the dire consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on the most vulnerable groups. The State of Qatar aspires that the LDC5 will mark a milestone that responds to the unprecedented challenges that have placed an additional burden on the shoulders of the least developed countries and enhance their ability to confront these challenges and rebuild and recover from the pandemic and its multifaceted effects.

HE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani held on Monday a phone call with HE US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The phone call reviewed the bilateral cooperation between the two countries and the latest security and political developments in Afghanistan.