Activities of Secretary-General in Qatar, 9-10 December

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, arrived in Doha, Qatar, from New York on Saturday evening, 9 December.

Upon his arrival, he had dinner with H.H. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Advocate and Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation at the Palace of Al-Wajba.

On Sunday, the Secretary-General took part in the Doha Forum.

In the morning, he had a bilateral meeting with His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar.  This was followed by a bilateral meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar.

The Secretary-General then spoke at the opening ceremony of the Doha Forum where he said that we need a serious effort to bring global structures up to date, rooted in equality and solidarity and based on the United Nations Charter and international law.  He added that the Security Council is paralysed by geostrategic divisions which undermine its authority and credibility.  The Secretary-General noted that even though the Council failed to declare a ceasefire in Gaza last week, this is still necessary — and he promised that he would not give up.  (See Press Release SG/SM/22078.)

After the opening ceremony, the Secretary-General listened to the opening panel, whose theme was “Palestine and the prospects of peace in the Middle East”.  He then had separate pull asides at the Forum with Lord Ahmad, Minister of State of the United Kingdom, and with Mr. Neils Annen, Deputy Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany.

The Secretary-General left for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in the afternoon.