(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Sanaullah Ataullah | The Peninsula
DOHA: Qatar is working to fulfil its commitments for supporting the Global Dryland Alliance (GDA), said Minister of Municipality and Environment H E Mohamed bin Abdullah Al Rumaihi.
'The Ministry of Municipality and Environment and other government sectors are working to implement Qatar's commitments to GDA within the stipulated time, said the Minister in his inaugural speech at a meeting of the First Ordinary Session of the Executive Board of the Global Drylands Alliance here yesterday. 'We met four months ago to sign the founding agreement of the Global Dryland Alliance in a bid to have an effective framework to unite our efforts to meet the challenges, said the Minister, adding that the first goal is to ensure food security and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on development in countries in general.
The Minister highlighted the concerns of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to this international organisation, which was set up upon his initiative, adding that His Highness directed to follow-up and support it at all stages.
He said that within the framework of the draft agenda of the council, a draft agreement for the headquarters of the Alliance was included that will be signed by concerned authorities in Qatar, so that the organisation can have status of a full-fledged legal body and benefit from the advantages granted to similar international organisations.
'The draft agenda also includes the discussion of the financial resources of the Alliance and the adoption of an innovative and sustainable mechanism that will contribute to the financing of the programme and projects required to be implemented in our countries on priority basis and to enhance the financial resources of the Alliance, said the Minister.
Ambassador Bader bin Omar Al Dafa, Executive Director of the Global Dryland Alliance, spoke about the activities of the executive secretariat of the Alliance during the past three months.
He added that this period witnessed a number of activities including the implementation of the recommendations of the founding countries of the Alliance, working visits to some member states or countries wishing to join the Alliance, and the preparation of a paper on the sources of funding of the Alliance.
Al Dafa said that the activities of the Alliance also include the preparation of a proposal for the administrative and organisational structure of its executive secretariat, as well as the preparation of a convention to be signed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country having its headquarters and the expansion of the temporary headquarters.
GDA is an international organisation of dryland countries established with the purpose of achieving food security by sharing knowledge and best practices; assisting in the development of capabilities to prevent food crises; and by providing mutual assistance needed at the times of emergency such as natural disasters or unrest.
On October 15, 2017, Doha hosted the GDA's founding conference where the convention of the new international organisation based in Doha was signed.
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