The State of Qatar participated in a side event organized on the sidelines of the Economic and Social Council under the theme "Youth - Advancing the Agenda", Co-sponsored by the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar in Geneva, the Permanent Mission of Denmark in Geneva and Co-organized by the UNFPA, IFRC, Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, the OHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

On this occasion, Mr. Shaheen Ali Al Kaabi, Assistant Director of the Department of International Cooperation, delivered an opening statement in which he stressed the participants’ aspiration to take stock of the progress of the agenda on youth engagement in humanitarian activities during the past few years and particularly since the World Humanitarian Summit held in Istanbul in 2016.

He added that in view of the current humanitarian landscape, as more than 140 million people needed humanitarian assistance “the State of Qatar firmly believes that youth participation help achieving an effective and better humanitarian response to those needs”.

He also said that the State of Qatar, as early as 2015, through the Doha Youth Declaration on Reshaping the Humanitarian Agenda, had expressed a strong desire for youth to play a pivotal role in humanitarian action, particularly under the challenging circumstances engulfing a number of countries today.

Mr. Al-Kaabi concluded his opening statement by referring to "Qatar's privilege to attend the process and witness the ongoing work." He also expressed Qatar's formal commitment to the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action and Qatar’s dedication to continuing its support for the advancement of its five key actions