New York/Information Office/ 19 February 2016/ Qatar's permanent delegation to the United Nations held a high-level meeting to discuss the value of hosting major sporting events as a social, economic, environment and sustainable development. The meeting came in conjunction with the sports day that was jointly held with Germany, South Korea, Russia, Tunisia and the United Nations Sport for Development and Peace. It focused on leading sports events that provide unique opportunities for host nations to achieve long-term development as well as economic benefits that go beyond the sports aspect. It reviewed the role of sport in motivating children to exercise, the promotion of women's status, providing job opportunities, health and raising standards of living. In this regard, Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) Secretary General Hassan Al Thawadi said hosting the 2022 World Cup is a milestone for Qatar and the Middle East, noting that the event will be an opportunity for the Middle East and the Arab world to promote sports and reconciliation. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised Qatar for taking the initiative to hold the meeting, saying that major sporting events can push forward the development wheel, economic growth, educational opportunities and environment protection. It also establishes a platform to enhance the values and goals of the United Nations, including peace and human rights, he added. At the end of the meeting, Qatar's permanent representative to the U.N., HE Ambassador Sheikha Aliaa Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani, stressed the significance of major sporting events on sustainable development, noting that it is important to include that matter in a U.N. resolution in order to highlight the positive contributions of sporting events to peoples, societies and regions as a tool for implementing the new agenda of sustainable development.