HE the President of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and the former High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Nasr said that the participation of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and his speech at the United Nations General Assembly every year emphasize the great interest that the State of Qatar attaches to international peace and security, as well as issues of concern to Arabs and Muslims and the necessity of following an approach of dialogue and diplomacy to end wars and crises.
He added, in an exclusive statements to Qatar News Agency , that HH the Amir comes every year to the General Assembly with proposals that touch on the issues of Arabs and Muslims and humanity as a whole, and always reflect the State of Qatars commitment to peace, fairness, harmony, global prosperity and economic growth, in addition to prioritizing dialogue, discussion and diplomacy in all its forms to end wars and crises internationally.
His Highness also points out the necessity of reforming the United Nations in terms of representing the people of all member states in the Security Council, implementing international legitimacy resolutions, avoiding double standards, and reviewing the internal system that hinders common issues due to the position of any of the five major countries using the veto power.
HE praised the active role of Qatari diplomacy under the directives of HH the Amir, which made it a global model and enabled the State of Qatar to play an active role in the international community by contributing to achieving international peace and security.
HE Al Nasr stressed that the State of Qatar is an active member of the United Nations and its specialized bodies and agencies, and that from this standpoint, the State has succeeded in building partnerships and launching initiatives with the international organization, in addition to its focus on all files related to political, development and relief affairs.
He added that the responsibility lies with the State of Qatar, being an active member of the United Nations, in its focus on all files related to political, development, and relief affairs. It also contributes in this framework by providing periodic and urgent response in the event of conflicts in countries, and works together with the United Nations to achieve UN Goals in building partnerships and creating international initiatives that are in the international interest in a world of security, peace, prosperity and well-being, HE said.
HE explained that the State of Qatar works through these initiatives and partnerships to defuse political, economic, developmental and humanitarian crises, as well as in the field of health and education in developing and least developed countries, to support and encourage individuals, communities and youth in particular to find job opportunities, fight unemployment and eliminate poverty.
Qatar is also working on humanitarian relief, internal and external displacement, natural disasters, combating extremism and terrorism, and climate change, he said, stressing that all of these endeavors have become appreciated and trusted by countries of the world, as the State of Qatar plays a pivotal role in addressing these issues.
HE the President of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and the former High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations stressed that the State of Qatar has succeeded in strengthening its international standing in terms of taking the international initiative to achieve the goals of the United Nations in maintaining international peace and security, by activating the mechanisms provided by the United Nations Charter through adequate measures to prevent the occurrence of conflicts, address their basic roots, and work to settle them by peaceful means using preventive diplomacy and soft power, as well as respecting international law as a principle of equality and fully adhering to it and its provisions, and respecting the principles of human rights, in implementation of international legitimacy.
His Excellency stressed that all of this made the State of Qatar a neutral and internationally reliable mediator in resolving a number of thorny issues regionally and internationally.
Regarding the role played by the State of Qatar in promoting dialogue and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), HE Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Nasr said that after the end of his term as President of the 66th Session of the UNGA, the State of Qatar nominated him for the position of High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), after the end of the term of former Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, who is the first High Representative of UNAOC, which was established in 2005, as a political initiative of the late Secretary-General Kofi Annan, under joint sponsorship with Spain and Turkiye. He said that the UNAOC is concerned with using soft power, sustainable development, interfaith dialogue, and intercultural dialogue as a tool for discovering the roots of polarization and differences between societies and cultures and recommending practical programs to address these issues not for an immediate period, but rather over a long-term period.
In this regard, HE affirmed that the State of Qatar played a prominent role in achieving the goals of this organization by hosting conferences, meetings, and workshops related to the dialogue of civilizations, the rapprochement of religions, and the rejection of hatred and violence, indicating that they have the role of youth, sports, music, and clergy to urge them to moderation and not to extremism. In response to a question related to Qatar’s continuous call for reform of the international organization, specifically the UN Security Council (UNSC), HE pointed out that the lofty speeches of HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the UNGA stress the necessity of reforming the international organization with all its organs, especially the UNSC.
His Excellency pointed out that the most prominent reforms lie in the fact that most of the thorny global issues are difficult to solve with the presence of the veto power of the five permanent members, indicating the State of Qatar always calls for the need of all countries participating in the UNSC for the right of countries to be fair in their full membership in the UN, as well as fair representation in the UNSC and achieve the purposes of the UN.
He said that one of the pillars that he worked on during his presidency of the General Assembly was to revitalize and reform the work of the UN, by trying to find consensus, adding that it is difficult to achieve this goal due to the lack of consensus and this requires reopening the UN Charter.
HE President of the 66th Session of the UNGA and the former High Representative for the UNAOC explained that the UNGA presidency is the highest position in the international organization, as it is the responsibility of the president to work to find consensus among countries in opinions, especially on thorny issues.
His Excellency said that the UNGA is like the international parliament and is the main representative body for deliberation and public policymaking and is committed to voting on important issues such as recommendations related to peace and security, the election of UNSC members, and the approval of a two-thirds majority of member states, while other issues are decided by a simple majority.
HE Al Nasser highlighted that his presidency of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly was based on four key pillars: the peaceful settlement of disputes; UN reform and revitalization; improving disaster prevention and response; and promoting sustainable development and global prosperity. He pointed out that many challenges and crises faced his international mission, in addition to submitting several draft resolutions, particularly the draft resolution to adopt the International Day of Happiness and his submission of a draft resolution to adopt the Global Day of Parents.
During his presidency of the 66th session of the UNGA, HE affirmed that he paid attention to holding formal and informal meetings with actors and organizations in the fields of human rights and security while focusing on the dialogue of civilizations due to his deep belief in its effectiveness in providing sustainable peaceful solutions to conflicts and preventing them from occurring and in this context we will not lose sight of the Arab issues at that time, such as the crisis in Libya, Syria, Somalia, Palestine, and a number of Arab and Islamic countries.
Source: Qatar News Agency