Qatar and Un Finalize Additional Agreement To Establish OCHA Branch In Doha
The Gulf state has been a United Nations member since 1971 and has supported the organisation’s agencies through numerous initiatives and funding.
Qatar and the United Nations sign a supplemental agreement in relation to setting up Office of OCHA-UN Doha
The Qatar agreement announced on Monday extends an initial road map struck in March for the OCHA office. The agreement was signed by Sheikha Hanouf bint Abdulrahman Al-Thani, Director of Department of International Organisations at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UOCHA Representative in Qatar Ahmed Marii.
The agreement is a part of Qatar’s continued efforts to provide humanitarian relief across the globe, it was said in the statement from Qatars foreign ministry. No precise date was given for when the Doha office will open.
The purpose of the new OCHA office is to ensure local coordination between humanitarians in Qatar and other stakeholders, nationally or internationally. This builds on the opening of UN House in Lusail by Qatar last year, which brought together multiple United Nations agencies – notably including for example key field presences such as those with principals at IOM and a Regional Cybercrime Training & Capacity-building Center.
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Qatar’s commitment to global humanitarian efforts has garnered praise from OCHA, emphasizing the impact of their support. This partnership, highlighted by OCHA, underscores Qatar’s generous contributions which enhance aid delivery and foster dialogue on pressing global challenges.
In another significant development, Qatar Charity and OCHA recently inked a separate agreement, along with the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), aimed at providing reliable humanitarian aid during sudden and overlooked crises worldwide. This agreement was formalized during the inaugural High-level Strategic Dialogue between Qatar and OCHA in Doha.
Since becoming a UN member in 1971, Qatar has consistently supported UN agencies through various initiatives and financial backing. In 2018, Qatar pledged $500 million to various UN programmes, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), OCHA, among others. These partnerships have empowered Qatar to bolster the UN’s capacity in responding to global emergencies.
Qatar’s global humanitarian support
The Gulf state has also continued to lead humanitarian actions globally, especially at the Gaza Strip where Israel’s continuous wars have seen an upward over 38,664 people die. Notably, the majority of the casualties are women and children.
Approximately 1.9 million others have also been left displaced. Since the wars started on October 7, Qatar has flown more than 114 humanitarian aid flights and shipments to Gaza. Additionally.
Last December, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani announced an initiative to support 3,000 orphans and offer medical treatment to 1,500 Palestinian Gazans.
Qatar has also evacuated over 500 critically injured people and their over 800 family members and 700 other people in distress. Noteworthy, these evacuations were done before Israel bombed the Gaza-Egypt Rafah Crossing on May 6.
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In the same month of announcing the initiative, Qatar offered to commit an immediate humanitarian aid package of $50mn to assist the refugees, displaced persons, the injured and the orphans, and the rest of the community in the Gaza Strip. In March, Qatar also pledged a further $25 million in support of UNRWA, in addition to $18mn previously undertaken. In war-torn Sudan, Qatar set up an air bridge following the outbreak of deadly violence in April 2023. Qatar has delivered more than $11mn in aid to the country in addition to the above mentioned, and the commitment to assist with a further $25 million at the conference in Paris on Sudan held in the same month.
In the aftermath of Taliban takeover Kabul on August 15, Qatar brokered crucial humanitarian channels for Afghanistan. Qatar evacuated more than 130,000 Afghans and foreigners at the time as well by dispatching humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.