Qatar has provided nearly $1.6bn in aid to help alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people inside and outside Syria, through international humanitarian organisations and donor conferences, HE the Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said yesterday.
Addressing a summit on refugees called by US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the minister said Qatar had funded the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) programmes in 2013.
In 2013 and 2014 Qatar provided more than $121mn for refugees in Turkey and Jordan, the minister said.
He also referred to Educate A Child (EAC), a programme of the Qatar-based Education Above All Foundation (EAA), which succeeded in securing the return of 600,000 Syrian refugee children to schools, and the number is expected to go up to 1mn by the end of this year.
The minister also said Qatar has allocated $20mn for the education and training of a million Syrians, adding that EAA is supporting education in refugee areas, and that Qatar has sponsored the education of 100 Syrian student refugees at the Sorbonne in Paris.
“The experience of long years of suffering of our Arab peoples had thrown hope of the ability of politics and international law to find a fair and lasting solutions to the conflicts and crises in the region,” the minister added.
He also reviewed Qatar’s continued support for the efforts to help the Syrians and Palestinian refugees and to alleviate their suffering.
Qatar continues to supports UNRWA programmes, especially in the field of education including building and renovation of schools at a cost of nearly $6mn.
The minister said Qatar has renewed its pledge to allocate $20mn to finance the education and professional development of refugees, which is part of the country’s pledge to provide $100mn for the benefit of the Syrian people, at the London Conference, held last February in support of Syria and the region.
He added that Qatar is now hosting more than 60,000 Syrians living along with Qatari brothers, as well as helping the reunion of 7,000 people with their families residing in Qatar.
The Foreign Minister also stressed Qatar supports the aspirations of the Syrian people.
Speaking at a meeting held by the friends of Syria on the sidelines of the General Assembly to discuss the future of Syria, the Foreign Minister said the participation of the Syrian opposition in the political process stems out of the latter’s keenness on a political resolution to the crisis.
He described the opposition’s vision for the political solution as comprehensive.
The minister added that such a vision shows that the accusations of the Syrian regime about the unwillingness of the opposition to find a political resolution were wide off the mark.
HE the Foreign Minister also highlighted the opinion of Staffan de Mistura, who is the United Nations special envoy for the Syria crisis, regarding the seriousness of the opposition in finding a solution.
His Excellency said that the first step towards a resolution is to find out the reasons of the crisis before proceeding towards a political transition in accordance to Geneva conference.
HE the Foreign Minister maintained that the situation in Syria was complicated, but stressed that he supports the unity and sovereignty of Syria.
QUEST launched
Meanwhile, the Qatar Development Bank yesterday launched an over $100mn initiative to provide education to over 400,000 Syrian refugees.
The Qatar Upholding Education for Syrians Trust (QUEST) was launched on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs HE Sultan bin Saad al-Muraikhi launched the initiative in the presence of high-ranking officials of UN organisations, ministers, NGO officials and civil society organisations.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs explained that the initiative aims mainly to ensure that children and young people who have suffered due to Syrian conflict, are able to get the necessary education and skills that enable them to move to formal education and find good jobs in the future to be active members of their community.
Qatar Development Bank Director-General Khalifa bin Jassim al-Kuwari underlined that investment in the education sector was the key to the return of normal life in Syria, and the cornerstone of its future and reconstruction.
He said the five-year QUEST initiative seeks to provide education and training to nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees within Syria and in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey.
QUEST was launched in line with the framework of the “No Lost Generation Initiative,” Syria Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), and the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP).
Al-Kuwari noted that the main objective of Qatar Development Bank was s to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development, in collaboration with all partners and friends around the world, notably the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.