New York - Information Office - 23 October 2019

The Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to the United Nations hosted, on its own initiative, the meeting of the Group of Friends of Sport for Development and Peace.

HE Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the UN Ambassador Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al-Thani welcomed the participants to the special meeting and stressed the strong relationship between sport and the goals of development and peace.

In this context, HE Sheikha Alya said that the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office (UNOCT) and the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), a non-profit organisation based in Doha, have recently signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation on issues related to the prevention and combating of terrorism, particularly in relation to the protection of vulnerable targets in the context of major sporting events.

Her Excellency expressed her great satisfaction at the selection of the State of Qatar to commemorate the United Nations Day ceremony on October 24, with the support of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), Doha Film Institute (DFI) and the foreign liaison office with the participation of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

She also noted the State of Qatar's participation in hosting the high-level event on "Promoting the Power of Sport to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism" which was jointly organized by the United Nations and the UNOCT, in which participants sought to empower youth skills and life values that would prevent their involvement in violent extremism and give them a positive outlook for the future.

HE Permanent Representative of the Principality of Monaco to the UN Ambassador Isabelle Pico, who co-chair the Group of Friends of Sport for Development and Peace together with the State of Qatar, participated in the meeting, along with HE Under-Secretary-General of the UN Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Voronkov and Football for Peace co-founder Kashif Siddiqi.