In Qatar, Senior UN Political Offical Hails Cooperation with Regional Org.

United Nations cooperation with regional organizations is increasingly contributing to global peace and security, the Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs today told the Sixth Doha Forum for Democracy Development and Free Trade, meeting in Qatar.

Ibrahim Gambari pointed to a number of examples of successful partnerships in recent years, including UN cooperation with the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in peacebuilding in Kosovo. He also reiterated the UN's support for the initiative of the League of Arab States to help promote reconciliation in Iraq.

The crisis in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan has presented a new and urgent challenge for cooperation - in this case between the UN and the African Union (AU), he said.

"The United Nations acknowledges that it cannot go it alone in confronting conflicts around the globe," said Mr. Gambari. "At the same time, regional organizations should welcome a broader multilateral role when it can usefully augment and complement regional efforts."

He also cited growing efforts by regional organizations to promote democratic governance within their regions, citing as an example the AU's move to establish an African Peer Review Mechanism, and the establishment by the Organization of American States (OAS) of an Inter-American Democratic Charter.

"We have come a long way in the cooperation between the UN and regional institutions," said Mr. Gambari, adding that they, in turn, have played a positive role in fostering peace and democracy in their respective regions.

Also today, the Under-Secretary-General met separately with Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ahmad Mahmoud, discussing a range of issues on the UN agenda including the Middle East peace process, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Somalia.

Mr. Gambari praised the Qatari Government for two recent initiatives in support of UN work in democracy and human rights: its pledge of $10 million to the new UN Democracy Fund, and its agreement to make Doha the headquarters of a soon-to-be-established UN Human Rights Training and Documentation Centre for South-West Asia and the Arab World.

The three-day Forum, hosted by His Highness the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, is being attended by international and government officials, parliamentarians, policy and academic experts, business leaders and journalists from around the world.

Source: United Nations News Centre

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