New York: Minister of Development Planning and Statistics H E Dr Saleh bin Mohammad Al Nabit (pictured) said the unilateral measures of imposing illegal land, sea and air siege on Qatar will not deviate it from achieving sustainable development, prosperity and growth.
Speaking at the meeting of the 2017 high-level political forum on sustainable development at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, the Minister said after the contrived crisis, Qatar is addressing this siege with the power of truth, logic and means of transparency, along with the support of its friends in the region and the world.
The Minister stressed Qatar’s commitment to the UN charter and relevant international conventions in every step it takes, reiterating that nothing would deviate it from the path it chose and set for itself in Qatar National Vision 2030, represented in achieving sustainable development and high levels of well being to its residents.
The Minister referred to the international indicators and comparisons that reflect Qatar’s continuous and steady progress in all the different economic development indicators as well as the social, human, safety indicators and peace in the world.
Qatar continues to meet its moral, ethical and religious commitments with regards to helping populations in need through spreading education and employment around the world and its response for humanitarian emergencies that populations face, he added. Such effort represents an authentic component of Qatar’s culture, morals and ethics that it has followed for years, and it reflects its commitment to effectively contribute to international development, the Minister said.
Qatar will host the high-level meeting of Economical and Social (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development follow-up for 2018 in November, reflecting Qatar’s belief in the importance of international development cooperation and the participatory responsibility for sustainable development, he said, adding it also falls in line with Qatar’s commitment to meet the challenges of development financing in a spirit of global partnership and solidarity.
Aspiring to achieve sustainable and inclusive development is met with many obstacles such as eradicating poverty which remains a top priority and a prerequisite to achieve sustainable development, he added.
In this context, the Minister reiterated that achieving inclusive and sustainable economic, social and environmental development also requires mobilising the necessary means, strengthening the effective global cooperation and participation, including all of the society’s individuals and specifically concentrating on meeting the needs of the poorest and most marginalised groups, especially women, children, people with disabilities and the elderly.
The Minister said Qatar’s policy depends on correlating its national policy with the global directives related to development saying, Qatar is keen on ensuring that the Sustainable Development Plan becomes an integral part of the Second National Development Strategy (2017-2022).
The Minister praised the Qatar National Vision 2030 which identifies main economic, social, human and environmental goals, including eight sectoral strategies for development in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Plan. He presented the achievements of Qatar in different fields including social security, health, education, infrastructure, energy, environmental protection, global partnership and cooperation and the developmental and humanitarian aids.
The Minister reiterated Qatar’s keenness for its development approach to be based on human rights, as it hosts residents of all nationalities who enjoy all the basic rights in accordance with the constitution, and participate in the process of development and growth of the State.
The Minister referred to the preventive approach adopted by Qatar to create conditions enhancing the concepts of coexistence and the renunciation of violence and extremism, noting Qatar’s hosting to annual dialogue conferences between different cultures. Qatar takes measures within legislative and institutional frameworks necessary to promote the culture of peace.
The Minister said Qatar concentrates on eradicating corruption, its causes and motives, as it hosted in 2015 the 13th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in partnership with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Qatar also launched transparency and control institutions such as the Administrative Control and Transparency Authority.
The Minister concluded that Qatar will continue to work on playing an important and active role in the global partnership for development and to achieve development that balances economic, social and environmental dimensions.
