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Buhari leaves for Qatar for conference on Least Developed Countries conference

March 4, 2023 No Comments

President Muhammadu Buhari will on Saturday leave for the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.

Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman in a statement on Saturday in Abuja, said this development followed an invitation by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The conference, which is from March 5 to 9, under the theme: “From Potential to Prosperity,” holds once in a decade.

It provides an opportunity to garner the support of the international community for accelerating sustainable development in the LDCs as well as assist them make progress towards achieving prosperity.

According to Mr Shehu, while in Doha, Mr Buhari will reinforce Nigeria’s commitment to support the most vulnerable countries to meet their development challenges.

The presidential aide revealed that the president would also highlight areas through which the Nigerian government had provided them with various forms of assistance over time.

“As most of these countries struggle to find sustainable solutions to challenges of poverty, adverse effects of climate change, food and energy crisis as well as high-debt burden among others, the Nigerian leader will vigorously reiterate the need for sustainable solutions for countries facing these severe challenges.”

The Summit will be attended by world leaders, the private sector, civil society and youth organisations.

It aims to share developmental ideas and mobilise political will, solidarity, action and solutions to transform the LDCs, by finding sustainable solutions to the challenges of poverty, food insecurity, hunger and weak or non-existent infrastructure.

The summit will also address the challenges of inadequate health facilities, climate change among others as they struggle to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The president’s delegation includes some ministers and top government officials who are expected to use the opportunity of the visit to sign some agreements and Memoranda of Understanding with the Qatari government.

The Nigerian leader is expected to return to the country on Monday.

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FG to partner Qatar for cultural promotion

September 7, 2022 No Comments

Nigerian Ambassador on Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the State of Qatar, Yakubu Ahmed, has called for a partnership between the two countries, in promoting the culture of Nigeria in Qatar.

Ambassador Ahmed made the call when he paid a courtesy visit to the Office of the General Manager & Chairman of the Kiahf Committee of Katara Cultural Foundation, Prof. Khalid Al Sulaiti, on Sunday.

While on a guided tour of the Katara Cultural Village, the Nigerian Principal Representative informed his Qatari host of the rich cultural diversity of Nigeria, expressed through traditional festivities featuring carnivals, boat rides, fishing, dances, songs, horse riding, and masquerades across the different ethnic linings.

In a statement released by the Ambassador’s office on Monday, he buttressed that the mission would explore possibilities of inviting interested public and private artists and art galleries in Nigeria to share their wares and talents at the Cultural Village in Doha.

In his briefing, the General Manager of Katara, Al Sulaiti, welcomed the idea of the partnership and encouraged the embassy to use the facilities in the cultural village to showcase Nigerian culture, via a series of exhibitions.

He pledged his support for any such events the Embassy would be willing to organise.

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Qatar Receives First Coronavirus Vaccines.

December 22, 2020 No Comments

Qatar received its first novel coronavirus vaccines on Monday, just hours after regulators approved the jab for use in the Gulf state, which says it will innoculate all residents free of charge.

A shipment of 14 boxes of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine landed at Doha’s Hamad International Airport aboard a Qatar Airways passenger Boeing 787 from Brussels shortly after 2000 GMT, according to AFP correspondents on site.

Authorities have not said how many doses arrived in the first shipment.

Abdullatif al-Khal, Chair of the National Health Strategic Group on Covid-19, said during a speech on state TV Monday that vaccinations would begin from Wednesday.
“The priority will be the elderly, those with chronic conditions and medical staff,” he said.

An illustration picture shows vials with Covid-19 Vaccine stickers attached, with the logo of US pharmaceutical company Pfizer, on November 17, 2020. JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP

Vaccinations will be administered on a voluntary basis and provided free of charge, he told AFP.

The European Union, Britain, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Singapore, Israel and Bahrain have all green lighted the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, paving the way for inoculations to begin.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has proven to be 95 percent effective in global trials, where two doses are administered three weeks apart.

It needs to be stored at the ultra-low temperature of -70 degrees Celsius (-94 Fahrenheit), posing handling and storage challenges.

Qatar’s health ministry “has issued the approval and registration of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, which is one of the two vaccines (the ministry) has secured agreements to purchase,” it said in a statement Monday, ahead of the delivery.

The vaccine “was approved after the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Control conducted a thorough review of the vaccine and the results of clinical studies conducted on a wide range of volunteers”, the ministry added.

“Their review showed that the vaccine is safe and effective in accordance with international standards.”

Qatar will also administer doses of the vaccine made by US firm Moderna Therapeutics.

The Gulf state has tested 44 percent of its population of 2.75 million and recorded 142,159 infections since the beginning of the pandemic, with the high rate attributed to aggressive testing and unsanitary accommodation for workers.

However, only 243 people have died of the virus and the rate of new infections per 100,000 for the past week was 37.7 — well down from the peak.

Khal said that “starting this month and continuing throughout 2021 we will undertake the biggest vaccine program ever delivered in Qatar”.