New York / Information Office / April 28

The State of Qatar has reaffirmed its commitment to continue efforts to provide an environment conducive to youth participation in the development process, noting at the same time the unprecedented challenges posed by the emerging Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, especially since the youth category was not isolated from its catastrophic effects, pointing to its efforts to provide education services for children and youth.

This came in a statement sent by HE Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and to the UN Security Council, which held a virtual meeting "Towards the fifth anniversary of the youth and peace and security agenda: accelerating implementation of resolutions 2250 and 2419".

Her Excellency stated that Qatar was one of the first countries in the region to respond by taking precautionary measures with social distancing to limit the spread of the virus, Qatar was also at the forefront of countries at the regional level that took early measures for a smooth transition to distance education, through Internet in response to current conditions.

Her Excellency stressed that the protection and promotion of the right to education is one of the priorities of the State of Qatar, whether under normal or emergency conditions, explaining that the State of Qatar has worked for several years to harness technology to develop the educational process and ensure its continuity and keep pace with challenges.

Her Excellency pointed to the mechanism of work for distance education developed by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and has activated electronic platforms for that, while working to take into account the comprehensiveness of education for all students in the distance learning process, including students with disabilities of all groups.

Her Excellency noted that the State of Qatar has not neglected the provision of laptop computers and tablets for some groups of students in the event that it is not available to ensure that no one is left behind in the distance education process.

On the international level, Her Excellency praised the intensified efforts by the State of Qatar to provide development and relief assistance that takes into account the priority of education and the importance of access to technology in learning operations, through development assistance provided by Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD) in various parts of the world, which accompanies the challenges arising under the difficult circumstances caused by social distancing, quarantine and school closures.

Her Excellency referred to the Qatari institutions, including Education Above All Foundation, which is working to develop pilot programs to facilitate the process of distance education in homes, including the early emergency response of the Foundation by collecting distance learning resources in different languages in order to assist parents in distance learning process. 

HE Ambassador Sheikha Alia Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations, also noted that the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, organized the second youth edition of the Doha Forum in November 2019, in which in-depth discussions were launched on the current issues of concern to youth , as the forum provided an open platform for youth to express their views on contemporary issues, including peace and security issues, in preparation for the Doha Forum held in December 2019.

HE the Ambassador added, "Combating the pandemic of the coronavirus (Covid-19) requires, in addition to cooperation and collaboration on the international level, provision of a safe environment and remove all obstacles and conditions that would prevent a strong and effective response, as well as require activating and supporting the pivotal role of youth in this response. "

In this context, HE the Ambassador stressed the support of the State of Qatar to the international calls for ceasefire in conflict areas, which would provide an opportunity to focus on efforts to face the Covid 19-pandemic. She reaffirmed the State of Qatar on the pivotal role of youth in peace processes, which the international community unanimously agreed five years ago when adopting Security Council Resolution 2250 (2015) and on their important role in activating UN calls for ceasefire.

Her Excellency also expressed the pleasure of the State of Qatar to host, in cooperation with the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Youth, the high-level global conference on comprehensive peace paths for youth.

She added that the holding of the conference comes within the framework of continuing efforts and building on the achievements of the first international conference on youth participation in the peace paths held in Helsinki in 2019.

In this context, Her Excellency expressed her appreciation to the partners of the State of Qatar, Finland and Colombia and the Office of the Secretary-General's envoy on youth for their efforts and cooperation in preparing for the next conference, which comes to commemorate the five-year anniversary of the adoption of Security Council Resolution 2250 and the passage of 20 years since the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325, as well as 25 years since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, as the conference will focus, among other topics, on the participation of young women in peace processes, whether through panel discussions, or by taking into account gender equality in all stages of preparing for the conference, besides implementing it and following its outputs.

Concluding the statement, Her Excellency reiterated the commitment of the State of Qatar to continue its efforts to provide a stimulating environment for youth participation in the development process, and to provide support at the national, regional and international levels to enable them to contribute effectively to peacebuilding and to actively engage in efforts to meet the challenges facing our world today.