Activities of Secretary-General in Qatar, 20-22 May

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon flew on Friday, 20 May, from New York to Doha, Qatar, to participate in the sixteenth Doha Forum.

Upon arrival in Doha on Saturday, 21 May, the Secretary-General met with Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar, followed by a trilateral meeting with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Amir of Qatar, and President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi Mansour of Yemen.  In that meeting, he stressed the need for commitment and perseverance by all sides in the Yemeni peace talks.

That evening, while addressing the Doha Forum, the Secretary-General underlined that in the Middle East and Gulf region, millions of people are suffering the consequences of conflict, terrorism, inequality, regional rivalries and severe deficits in basic freedoms.  He said that as we set our sights on the year 2030, we must do far more to end conflict and suffering in 2016.  (See Press Release SG/SM/17775.)

On Sunday morning, 22 May, the Secretary-General had a working breakfast with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai of Afghanistan, before leaving for Istanbul, Turkey, for the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit.