By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is interested in opening a country office in Qatar and the government is positively looking at the proposal, a senior UN official has said.

Paolo Lembo, the United Nations Resident Co-ordinator for the Gulf region, which makes him responsible for Qatar, UAE, and Oman, was in Doha recently to attend an event to celebrate Qatar’s 36 ranking in the Human Development Index in its Millennium Development Goals. Lembo who is based in Abu Dhabi was previously the director for the UNDP’s Regional Centre for Arab States.

In Qatar, UNDP began its activities in 2006, after the signing of an MoU between UNDP and Qatar, and the UNDP-UAE country office is managing activities in Qatar. But now the UNDP is interested in opening a country office in Qatar.

“We are discussing with the government for a range of options. This (opening of the office) is one of them. No decision has been taken yet about it here in Qatar and in Oman. (But) this is necessary in order to launch our activities here,” he told Gulf Times in an interview.

The senior UN official acknowledged Qatar’s political commitment to pursue a significant strategy of international co-operation.

“Qatar has been involved lately in a very visible manner in an assortment of very significant diplomatic initiatives, investment activities, development and humanitarian assistance programmes in the region, which makes it a very primary player. We notice this is increasing as time goes by.

“Therefore, there is an objective in the policy of Qatar that relates to our areas of interest, to international challenges that are very relevant to the United Nations. We feel that the time has now come to look into how we can harmonise our contribution to these very areas and co-operate very closely,” he said.

He revealed about a ‘human development forum’ that was currently under discussion that may open in Qatar as early as June. “I’m very happy to see that there is a genuine commitment of Qatar (in this regard).”

He said the very purpose of UN and his presence in the region was to push the global organisation’s role in development programmes of the countries, in order to enable them to achieve their MDGs.

“This is the very purpose of my presence. We have an office in Abu Dhabi responsible for the Emirates. Right now, we are looking at how we can consolidate the partnership with the countries of the Gulf, in particular Qatar and Oman.”

Currently, there are 12 UN agencies with presence in the UAE.  While UNDP and Food and Agriculture Organisation have country representations in Abu Dhabi, Unicef, UNHCR and Unifem are also located in Abu Dhabi.

WFP, UNDSS, OCHA, OCHA-IRIN, UNHCR and UNU have activities initiated from Dubai but mainly to serve other countries in the region and beyond. Non-resident UN agencies have activities in the country and is generally implemented in cooperation with UNDP. “I have been travelling extensively in the region and I’ve conducted a number of meetings in Qatar and Oman, and I’m very happy to acknowledge that there is a very strong interest to rethink our partnership and to reaffirm the commitment to not only the UNDP but the objectives of the UN system and the MDGs,” he added.

About the redefinition of their goals, Lembo gave the example of the discussions on the hosting of the South-South Development Co-operation Expo in Doha, Qatar. This event is expected to give a platform to countries willing to deliver a system for renewable energy, IT and innovation. “I’m delighted to acknowledge that the government has been very positive to the idea of the summit, which we plan to have sometime by the end of this year (in Doha).”

He praised the state of Qatar for its 36 HDI ranking in the world, but added that more work needs to be done to consolidate the country’s position.

“HDI performance is an expression of dynamics, it is not the fact. The fact that you have reached a certain level of rank, does not mean that you can rest on it. It means it is dynamic, you’re progressing in the right direction and one needs to consolidate this result, expand it and then to understand how based on this impressive performance, the country can promote regional peace and stability.”

He believed that Qatar had done ‘quite well’ in the last few years to promote stability in neighbouring countries.