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His Excellency Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin
Jabr Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs |
In The Name of God, the Most Gracious, the
Most Merciful
H.E. Mr. Bashir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister Of the Turkish
Republic,
H.E. Mr. Carlos Morales Tronsco, Dominican Republic's Foreign
Minister,
H.E. Mrs. Valerie Amos, UN Undersecretary- General for
Humanitarian Affairs,
Their Excellences, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Peace be Upon you and Allah's Mercy and His blesses,,,
I welcome you to the city of Doha and thank you all for your
attendance in response to our invitation to participate in the
Doha International Conference on HOPEFOR Initiative: to improve
the effectiveness and coordination of military and civil defence
assets in relief operations and addressing of natural disasters.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
One of the most paramount characteristics of our contemporary
era is the interdependence among all parts of the globe. We
cannot imagine even that a country can manage to exist in
isolation of other countries, or witness a special extraordinary
incident occurring without its having an impact or repercussions
on the rest of the world. Hence, emerged the need to mutual
cooperation and collective exploration of the prerequisites of
maintaining the common destiny and coexistence vis-?-vis crises
and natural disasters befalling us all, with a view to enjoying
the stability and peace we aspire to achieve.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In this context, the efforts undertaken by the United Nations
Organization, represented in the Office of Humanitarian Affairs
Coordination, in the area of addressing natural disasters,
undoubtedly contribute to the alleviation of sufferings and
losses incurred by the affected countries. However, the
successive occurrence of these disasters, their mounting
escalation, their varied forms and sorts all contributed to a
colossal series of damage and destruction. Now, there is no
country which is immune or invincible as far as these disasters
are concerned. By the same token, there is no country which can
manage to deal on its own with such catastrophes. What renders
matters even more difficult is that there is no method by means
of which we can predict the place and time of the occurrence of
these disasters. The only definite fact is that it may only be a
matter of time before another disaster occurs.
Proceeding from these facts, the State of Qatar presented the "
HOPEFOR" initiative with the aim of making use of military and
civil defence assets to provide immediate relief operations to
the disaster-stricken areas. We thank Turkey and the Republic of
Dominican, for agreeing to take part in that initiative in
collaboration with the UN Humanitarian Affairs Coordination
Office.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The primary objective of the "HOPEFOR' initiative is to improve
the effectiveness and coordination of military and civil defence
assets in relief operations. Thus, it assists in bridging the
gap in humanitarian efforts at the international level as the
military and civil defence assets facilitate a rapid response to
disasters which may not be possible in the case of the
traditional emergency response systems. The initiative,
therefore, ensures the bridging of the huge gap that occurs
during disasters between the required needs and those actually
available, particularly during the immediate aftermath of the
disaster when the damage is huge and is usually above the
national capabilities of any one country.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is highly important to mention here that we from the first
time we have presented this initiative have been assigning
utmost importance to consultations with various concerned
countries, international organizations and regional and national
authorities with relevant expertise in this field to get
acquainted with their views and concerns. The follower of this
initiative from the beginning can see how its features, details
and vision have developed in such a way as to take account of
those concerns, interests and positions.
Your discussions in the past two days have added an
international dimension to the initiative, and came out with
important recommendations that can help us confront the
aftermath of natural disasters.
Out of the state of Qatar's firm commitment to exert all efforts
to help in this respect I am pleased to announce the intention
of the state of Qatar to establish a specialized center in Doha
to serve the Middle East and West Asia regions in the field of
improving the utilization of the military and civil defense
capabilities in relief operations in the aftermath of natural
disasters. We are confident that the establishment of the center
would enhance regional coordination and cooperation, and pave
the way for the introduction of an international framework for
the mobilization of all efforts to build the required resources
and achieve success in this field.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your conference has enriched the discussion and the dialogue,
and has shed light of the issues that can advance the
implementation of the initiative. We are happy about the
positive stances taken by the GCC member states, the Arab group,
the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the European Union,
which have all welcomed the outcome that we are looking forward
to endorse at the end of this meeting.
Thank you and best regards
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Qatari Internal Security Force Search and Rescue Team's
Experience worksheet
