Qatar's delegation was headed by HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, in the presence of HE the Director-General of Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) Khalifa al-Kuwari, while the WHO delegation was headed by its Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Ahmed al-Mandhari.
The dialogue aimed to align the priorities of Qatar and WHO with the goal of identifying potential funding opportunities for programmes and initiatives that seek to improve health outcomes and achieve health-related strategic development goals with a focus on the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa regions.
HE Dr al-Kuwari said that Qatar, under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, seeks to support WHO through a flexible and essential voluntary contribution related to Covid-19, emergency humanitarian response, as well as its recent partnership in sports and health.
She said that the dialogue will provide an opportunity for a number of public health institutions, foreign affairs, and educational institutions to interact with WHO counterparts and agree on effective commitments for global and regional health.
The minister said that Qatar's effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the scientific production of the largest research community referred to the global understanding of the pandemic, which is an example of Qatar's role as a contributor to responding to the challenges on the global health agenda.
For his part, HE al-Kuwari explained that one of QFFD's priorities is to respond to health needs, noting that the strategic dialogue will open doors to great opportunities and transform into healthier societies in such difficult times.
He explained that to achieve the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030 towards implementing the third goal of the sustainable development goals, openness towards strategic partnerships will allow investing in new innovative solutions targeting larger groups in shorter periods, stressing the keenness to strengthen the existing partnership between WHO and Qatar to enhance efficiency and establish basic health services.
WHO Director-General Dr Ghebreyesus said that Qatar is an important partner and supporter of the commitments and programmes of WHO, and thanked Qatar for its commitment to global health and its valuable flexible funding to the organisation, which is critical to the WHO's mission in promoting health, maintaining the safety of the world and serving vulnerable groups.
The dialogue discussed a variety of topics including the impact of Covid-19, emergency preparedness and response, capacity building, protracted emergencies, neglected tropical diseases, as well as WHO programmes related to the health rights of refugees and migrants and the use of innovation and digital solutions to promote health and equity in access to health care.
The dialogue follows the recent signing of the Core Voluntary Contribution Agreement between WHO and QFFD, which placed Qatar among the top 10 primary volunteer donors to WHO in 2021.
Core donations allow the organisation to act quickly by allocating funds as needed to ensure that vulnerable communities around the world receive immediate assistance.
It also ensures that the organization can quickly fill any critical funding gaps so that it can continue its activities without hindrance.
To highlight the support of Qatar, WHO recently launched a dedicated page on its website in which it reviews its strategic partnership with the State of Qatar.
