Qatar's UN Partnership Emphasizes Multilateral Solutions: Sheikha Alya

Qatar's partnership with the United Nations rests on multilateral action and the joint development of solutions, Qatar's Permanent Representative to the UN, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, said in an exclusive statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) ahead of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 81).

She said the partnership rests on three pillars: a steadfast commitment to the UN Charter, international law and multilateral cooperation; sustained practical support for the Organization and its agencies; and an active contribution to developing solutions. In her words, the scale of the challenges facing the region and the world exceeds the capacity of any single country to address them alone, and multilateral action within the UN framework is the best way to meet them.

Sheikha Alya dated a qualitative shift in the relationship to 2018, when the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, directed multi-year support to UN organizations totaling $500 million over ten years. Agreements covering the UNDP, UNICEF, OCHA and UNRWA, among others, were signed on the sidelines of the Doha Forum 2018, in the presence of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The United Nations House in Doha opened in March 2023 and now hosts fourteen UN offices.

On mediation, she said Qatari mediation has become part of the everyday vocabulary of the UN. Security Council Resolution 2720 (2023) praised Qatar's diplomacy toward a humanitarian pause in Gaza, and Resolution 2803 (2025) welcomed its role, alongside the United States, Egypt and Turkiye, in facilitating a ceasefire. Resolution 2513 (2020) welcomed the US-Taliban agreement concluded in Doha. Council members also welcomed, in a press statement of July 25, 2025, Qatar's facilitation of the Declaration of Principles signed in Doha on July 19 between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Congo River Alliance/M23.

She attributed the credibility of these efforts to neutrality, adherence to international law, respect for state sovereignty and the priority given to peaceful solutions.

On development, she pointed to the second part of the Fifth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Doha in March 2023, and the Doha Programme of Action for 2022-2031, to which the Amir announced a $60 million contribution. Doha also hosted the Second World Summit for Social Development in November 2025, which produced the Doha Political Declaration. Qatar allocated about $1 billion, or 20% of its Special Drawing Rights holdings, to two IMF trusts, the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust and the Resilience and Sustainability Trust. She added that Qatar supports the UN80 reform initiative.