UN Secretary General Closes Doha Forum

HE Prime Minister and HE Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs attend closing

Doha Forum Award for outstanding achievement in diversity, dialogue and diplomacy announced

His Excellency the Prime Minister, Minister of Interior, Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani and His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Abdulrahman Al Thani attended tonight the closing session of the 2018 Doha Forum.

The session featured a keynote by His Excellency the Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Antonio Guterres who closed the Forum on a hopeful note, remarking: “Despite times of chaos and confusion, and a deficit in trust, I see winds of hope around the world.”

In the context of historic peace agreements in the Horn of Africa over the last year, a peace deal in South Sudan after years of war, and initiatives and actions for peace in the Korean peninsula, Guterres stated: “Hope blooming elsewhere. Commitments to peace in Colombia. Strengthened cooperation in Central Asia. Progress in resolving differences between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. UN peacekeeping missions in West Africa successfully concluding after years of work. And of course, hundreds of millions of people lifted out of extreme poverty across the world over the past three decades.”

The closing also witnessed the announcement of the Doha Forum Award which will be given for the first time in 2019 to outstanding achievements to diversity, dialogue and diplomacy, and will be worth half a million US Dollars.

The annual policy gathering, held under the Patronage of HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Amir of the State of Qatar, ended after two days of thought-provoking discussions around the world’s most pressing challenges.

This year’s edition brought together international decision-makers, heads of state, ministers, business executives and advocates to examine policy around the critical challenges facing the world today. Key speakers included the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohamed Javad Zarif, and Nobel Laureate Nadia Murad.

Under the theme “Shaping Policy in an Interconnected World”, the Forum organizers and partners executed high-level panels, plenaries and workshops around four key themes: Security, Economic Development, Peace and Mediation, and Trends and Transitions.

The 2018 Forum’s overarching strategic partners are the Munich Security Conference, the International Crisis Group, and the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Content partners included RAND, Global Dryland Alliance, Brookings Center in Doha and International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism, The Observer Research Foundation, The Center for the National Interest, The S. Rajartnam School for International Studies, The Doha Institute, and Valdai Discussion Club.

This edition’s institutional partners included the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of commerce and industry, Qatar Petroleum, the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the National Tourism Council and Qatar Foundation.

The Forum’s media partners include Al Jazeera, Buzzfeed, Financial Times, and Le Point.