In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful,
Your Excellency Mr. Christos Stylianides, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management,
Your Excellency Mr. Mark Lowcock, the United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,
Your Excellency Mrs. Ine Eriksen, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Norway,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First, it pleases me to express my sincere thanks to the European Union and the United Nations for their efforts and appreciated endeavors for organizing and hosting this forum, just as I would also like to thank all the participating delegations, who reaffirm with their presence their dedication to peace and justice, and the right of peoples to live a dignified and safe life, one that provides life requirements and basic services.
This wide participation reaffirms the international community's interest in the Syrian crisis, which plunged Syria into a civil war that led to the destruction of basic infrastructure, the collapse of its economy, the depletion of its natural resources, in addition to the disruption of basic necessities and vital services such as clean water, health, and education, and which led to the deaths of at least half a million Syrians, and the displacement of about 12 million others looking for a safe place in neighboring countries, far away from the bombings. This requires the international community to take all measures by applying the provisions of international law to stop killing, forced displacement, starvation, and terrorism, and to swiftly take immediate measures to protect the Syrian people from the clutches of oppression and tyranny, and from the weapons of mass destruction.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It has been nearly seven years since the beginning of this catastrophe, and which the world has been unable to achieve justice and justice for the victims, and the accountability for crimes against civilians has become a challenge to the credibility of the United Nations and regional organizations, and the tools and instruments of international law that specialize in protecting people from extermination. The entire world was recently shocked with the use of chemical weapons in the village of Douma in eastern Ghouta, and in Khan Shaykhun almost a year ago, and we all saw its heinous effects. From this platform, the State of Qatar calls on the international community, and especially the UN Security Council, to build on fact-finding and to hold the perpetrators of this horrific attack accountable for these systematic crimes, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the principles and provisions of humanitarian law and Security Council resolutions, which resulted in the alertness of some countries and specific strikes to the chemical weapons sites used by the current Syrian regime.
Furthermore, on the basis of humanitarian, moral, and legal responsibilities, the State of Qatar reaffirms its support for all international efforts to enforce accountability for the crimes and violations of the Syrian regime against its people based on General Assembly resolution no. 71/248 and establishing an independent international mechanism for investigation with the $1 million we supported it with, and to bring those responsible for the crimes committed in Syria since 2011 to trial. We also call upon the international community to urgently implement this resolution and mechanism in an urgent manner, and to move towards taking criminal procedures in accordance with international law and the relevant Security Council resolutions.
The international community has been convinced that there is no security, no peace, no cessation of destruction and loss of life without addressing the root causes of the crisis. In this context, the State of Qatar supports all sincere efforts to reach a political solution to this crisis based on the decision of Security Council resolution 2254 and the Geneva Declaration (1).
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
The State of Qatar has not and will spare no effort to stand by its Syrian brothers and shoulder its humanitarian and moral responsibilities. The State of Qatar has pledged at every opportunity to provide generous assistance and it has followed up with that, and the State of Qatar's assistance to the Syrian people has increased to two billion dollars, and it has embraced tens of thousands of Syrians and ensured their integration into society, and their contribution to the development process. I would also like to point out that the State of Qatar is one of the founding states for the group of major donors to Syria and it has carried out great governmental and civil efforts in support and relief. It has also hosted in Doha the 11th meeting for the major donors, and it actively participated in a series of donor meetings, and it launched many campaigns to support Syrian refugees and it will continue to do so.
In addition, I would like to point out the State of Qatar's participation as co-chair of a previous conference on Syria with the United Nations, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, and Kuwait with the goal of mobilizing support for humanitarian response resources, political process efforts, reconstruction, and political transition, in which the State of Qatar pledged to provide $100 million, which it did, and it even increased the amount, so that our support for the 2017 Brussels conference amounted to $108 million, while the amount of our contribution for the 2016 London conference was $101, 241 million.
In keeping up with the State of Qatar's commitment towards mitigating the Syrian humanitarian crisis, this morning we announced a new pledge to provide an amount of $100 million for 2018.
In conclusion, the State of Qatar will spare no effort to alleviate this long-standing humanitarian disaster and to work towards its end, and I would like to reiterate my thanks to all the attendees and their countries, and to the United Nations and the European Union, as well as the various organizations for their sincere and constructive efforts, and I hope that our efforts will succeed in stopping this humanitarian catastrophe and in protecting civilians and their vital facilities. I call upon all to follow up with support, to provide more, and to fulfill promises.
Thank you.