Geneva – Media & Communication Dept. - March 02

The State of Qatar has expressed its hope that the UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5), which will be held in Doha from March 5 to 9, will provide an opportunity to discuss and build effective plans and partnerships to implement the Doha Program of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade (2022-2031), at the same time, Qatar expressed regret over the incident of burning the Holy Quran, which the world witnessed again, and the hate speech that provoked the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world.
This came in the speech of HE Assistant Foreign Minister Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater, before the fifty-second session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Her Excellency stressed that attention is turning these days towards Doha, which is hosting the Fifth United Nations Conference of the Least Developed Countries, noting the size of the exceptional challenges faced by the least developed countries, especially in the wake of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has cast a heavy shadow on international efforts related to achieving development in all countries, and in the least developed countries in particular.
In her speech, HE Assistant Foreign Minister also offered her sincere condolences to the two brotherly peoples in Turkey and Syria for the loss of many dear lives and properties due to the earthquakes that struck the two countries recently.
Her Excellency indicated that the Human Rights Council is convening in light of international repercussions and circumstances that greatly affect the enjoyment of human rights by millions of people, and noted the successful organization of the State of Qatar for an exceptional and distinguished World Cup at all levels, and for the first time in the Arab world and the Middle East, which contributed to providing an important space for human and civilized communication, adding that it brought together people of different races, and nationalities, and carried a message to all mankind calling for sports competitions to be a means of promoting brotherhood and communication between different cultures and civilizations.
In this regard, Her Excellency pointed out that the State of Qatar donated 10,000 mobile housing units fully equipped for living, which were used in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, to Turkey and Syria to shelter those affected by earthquakes and those who lost their homes, explaining that this comes within the framework of the state's belief in the developmental and humanitarian role of sport.
Her Excellency said that the State of Qatar believes in the right to education since the issuance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, as it is at the forefront of countries that provided international development assistance in the education sector in a number of countries, including Afghanistan, and providing opportunities for both men and women.
Her Excellency noted that the State of Qatar organized, in cooperation with the Republic of Indonesia, a conference on Afghan women in Bali last year, with the participation of more than forty countries, in addition to a large number of educational organizations and institutions, the private sector and personalities, such as the United Nations, the European Union and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, all of these parties have agreed that education is a human right but rather a religious duty that should not be compromised under any pretext.
HE Assistant Foreign Minister expressed regret that the world is witnessing once again, at a time when it is going through grave challenges that require solidarity and encouragement of harmony between cultures, civilizations and followers of different religions, an incident that expresses disgusting intolerance, represented in the burning of the Holy Quran.
Her Excellency said that this hate speech provokes the feelings of more than two billion Muslims in the world, and it cannot and should not be allowed to have a place in our world today. Her Excellency stressed that everyone must stand firmly against these destructive ideas and practices that spread intolerance and discrimination against Islam and Muslims, and fuel feelings of hostility and violence against them, which threatens their full enjoyment of their rights and fundamental freedoms.
Her Excellency also strongly condemned the continuation of the crimes, grave violations and attacks by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, the killing of civilians, and the deliberate targeting of vital civilian facilities, and the continued storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist settlers under the protection of the Israeli occupation authorities, illegal settlement policies and discriminatory and racist practices, as well as demolitions and confiscation of Palestinian property, and the unjust siege imposed on Gaza Strip.
Her Excellency said that the international community must stand up to the arrogance of the Israeli occupation and its belief that it is above the law and cannot be held accountable. Her Excellency also welcomed the recent receipt by the International Court of Justice of an official request from the United Nations General Assembly, regarding the issuance of an advisory opinion on the legal implications resulting from the continued Israeli occupation's violation of the right of the Palestinian people.
Her Excellency stressed the importance of this request, calling on all countries that believe in and are committed to international law to support it and prevent attempts to undermine it, work to end the Israeli occupation, achieve justice and fairness for the Palestinian people, and ensure that all those responsible for violations and crimes committed against them are held accountable and brought to justice.
Her Excellency pointed out that the brotherly Syrian people have been suffering for twelve years from crimes, and gross violations of international human rights law, from human suffering beyond description and endurance, from great destruction, displacement and serious health, economic and social crises, and then the catastrophe of the recent earthquake came to place the international community before its legal and moral responsibility, and unfortunately it seems that the concerned international organizations and the international community in general have failed the grieving Syrian people once again, even if their move came, it was late, and even provocative in using this human tragedy in favor of possible settlements and political equations that the Syrian people were not part of, just as they were not part of the international equation, which in the name of combating terrorism justified several years ago to see an entire people slaughtered, abandoned and abused. without the international community moving a finger.
At the end of her speech, HE Assistant Foreign Minister reiterated Qatar's commitment to fully cooperate with the Human Rights Council to enable it to fulfill its mandate and tasks in an optimal manner.