New York: Qatar has made great strides in the process of sustainable development, Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah said yesterday.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly Summit to Adopt Post-2015 Development Agenda, he said: “We are relieved that the agenda is in line with economic, social and environmental dimensions of our National Vision 2030, which includes the basic pillars of sustainable development, particularly security, health, education, culture, and sports.
“I would like to note here that since the 1990s, Qatar took the initiative to invest in Qatari citizens. It was a forerunner in setting policies that ensure sustainable development for citizens; we have developed a comprehensive national strategy for development to transform our country into a state capable of maintaining sustainable development and providing a high standard of living for present and future generations.”
He said the world has undergone profound changes since the launch of Millennium Development Goals in 2005. While many goals have been achieved, many have stalled. “The international community is committing today once again to launch new Post- 2015 Development Agenda to achieve security, stability, well-being and sustainable development for our countries and peoples, guided by lessons learned from our past experiences, forward-looking and ready to address current and potential challenges in shared responsibility while taking into account differentiated burdens.
“Ensuring success and achievement of the envisaged objectives of the agenda makes it imperative for the international community to tackle and find effective solutions to obstacles that hinder the sustainable development process, be they political, structural or capacity-related, based on a practical and realistic perspective, that takes into account priorities and needs of developing and least developed countries in particularly, by providing all possible support to help them cope with the increasing marginalisation in the global economy and benefit from the scientific, economic and human potential available in our present day.
“We would like to stress the importance that national policies reflect the human and social side of development, by putting at the top of their priorities the development of strategies that meet the necessary needs of peoples and for the promotion of democracy and human rights, along with the realisation of transparency rules in addressing and fighting corruption in all its manifestations to achieve good governance, since the commitment to the principles of the rule of law and accountability is imperative for any development strategy.
“This approach was confirmed by the Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Doha in April,” he added.
QNA
