Qatar-Rwanda relations are unified by shared sustainability goals.
On Saturday, Qatar’s Amir received the president of the Republic of Rwanda in Doha, where the two discussed strengthening bilateral ties.
Joining the two leaders were Qatar’s president of the Amiri Court, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi and national officials.
Among the Rwandan delegation, the president was accompanied by the public investment and resource mobilisation minister, Jeanine Munyeshuli.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed with his Rwanda counterpart, President Paul Kagame, strategies to strengthen bilateral ties, the Amiri Diwan said.
This follows the Rwanda National Day and Business Forum event held on Thursday at the Doha Expo.
Qatar’s Bader bin Omar Al Dafa, Doha Expo’s Commissioner General, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Qatar, Igor Marara and Rwanda’s Minister for Agriculture and Animal Resources, Ildephonse Musafiri attended the event.
Other notable attendees were South Africa’s Ambassador to Qatar, Ghulam Hoosein Asmal and America’s Ambassador to the Gulf state, Timmy Davis.
Aside from the National Day festivities, which saw the audience treated to an array of traditional Rwandan dance performances, Thursday’s event underscored the two country’s shared visions of utilising sustainable governance to enhance growth and development.
The ‘Sustainable Resilient Food Systems and Sustainable Production’ panel discussed how policies and practices within the public and private sectors can be implemented to achieve the United Nations sustainable development goal of zero hunger by 2030.
The discussion also stressed the importance of improving sustainability practices within farming.
Speaking to Doha News after the event, Rwanda’s Agriculture Minister, Ildephonse Musafiri, said one of the challenges faced by his country’s smallholder farmers was soil erosion.
“Erosion is a big problem, especially when there is flooding,” the minister said. “One of the solutions we are implementing is to fight against this with tree planting and agroforestry. And, we make sure we do radical and progressive terraces.”
According to the Rwanda Water Resources Board, the use of terraces and filtration were at the core of the landlocked nation’s strategy to replenish the groundwater and keep nutrients in the soil – rather than washing away from the field.
Gaza crises
On Saturday, Sheikh Tamim and President Kagame also discussed developments in the besieged Gaza Strip during their meeting.
The latest figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health report that since October 7, Israeli shelling has killed at least 28,064 people. A further 67,611 Palestinians in the enclave have been left wounded.
According to the United Nations’ humanitarian office (UN OCHA), Gaza’s crippled health sector is battling the immense strain of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Just 13 of Gaza’s hospitals are functional – and yet, only partially.
There are also only 12 emergency medical teams and three field hospitals that are currently operational, UN OCHA added.
At least 122 ambulances and 20 WASH facilities have also been struck by the aggressor’s bombardment.
According to the World Health Organisation, WASH is a catch-all phrase – referring to water, sanitation, health care waste management, hygiene and environmental cleaning infrastructure.
A UN OCHA Flash Update added that damage sustained to Gaza’s WASH facilities is hindering disease prevention services as tens of thousands of tonnes of uncollected waste increasingly piles up around shelters for Gaza’s internally displaced, the enclave’s remaining hospitals, as well as the streets of Gaza.
The Flash Update estimated that at least 2.25 million Palestinians are in dire need of WASH support. By Fakhriya M. Suleiman, Doha News