Qatar Participates in Oslo Conference on Protecting Children in Armed Conflict

Oslo Conference

The State of Qatar is participating in the two-day Oslo conference on protecting children in armed conflict, which kicked off Monday in the Norwegian capital, Oslo.

The State of Qatar's delegation to the meeting is headed by HE Minister of Social Development and Family, Chairperson of the 42nd session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad.

During her participation in the conference, HE Minister of Social Development and Family underlined that the State of Qatar is fully ready to offer assistance and everything required, including coordination and cooperation at all levels to ensure children are protected from scourges of armed conflict worldwide, support afflicted segments due to armed conflict and rescue them from the consequences of conscription, exploitation, and psychological and social crises.

She stressed that preventive diplomacy is one of the most critical pillars on which the State of Qatar relies in its foreign policies which is demonstrated in being a priority at all levels to resolve conflict through peaceful means and achieve peace wherever conflict prevails.

Her Excellency highlighted the pivotal role undertaken by the State of Qatar in providing full care for Afghan children and their relatives after they were hosted in Doha and providing all psychological and social rehabilitation programs to them during their stay period to protect them from adverse impacts of armed conflict on their future. She considered such a hosting an evident indicator of Doha's responsibility to end and prevent grave violations against children in armed conflict and a vibrant example for the world to be further emulated in the fields of responsibility towards afflicted communities.

In her capacity as Chairperson of the 42nd session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Social Affairs, HE Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad emphasized that there is a unified Arab stance that is committed to the pledge of Oslo conference on protecting children in armed conflict, the same stance set forth in Doha Declaration issued at the conclusion of the conference on protecting children in armed conflict which the Ministry of Social Affairs and Family urgently called for on May 28.

Her Excellency pointed out that the Doha conference and its outcomes received great commendation from the participating representatives of states, governments and international organizations describing the conference as a new complement to the legacy of the State of Qatar, which is rich in pioneering regional and global efforts espousing humanity and its right to a free and dignified life.

The Oslo conference on protecting children in armed conflict is co-organized by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Norwegian government, Save the Children, and the International Committee of the Red Cross in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), African Union, Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, alongside Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action.

(QNA)