The conference falls under the country’s mission to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Qatar will host the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRI) conference, in June, authorities confirmed.

The announcement of the conference – titled “International Solidarity in the Implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.. the pivotal role of Goal 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions” – came during the first meeting of the 2020 Executive Committee, which was held virtually from Doha.

Attendees included: Issam Yunus, head of ANNHRI’s current session, and head of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine; Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali, ANNHRI’s Executive Director; heads of national institutions that are members of the ANNHRI in several Arab countries; among others.

The meeting discussed the committee’s strategy to examine the decisions of the previous General Assembly, the COVID-19 implications, challenges, solutions, and the role of national human rights institutions during the pandemic.

Furthermore, the Executive Committee affirmed the ANNHRI’s preparedness to assist Sudan to establish a national human rights institution in accordance with the 1993 Paris Principles, in coordination and cooperation with the High Commission for Human Rights and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions.

The meeting also addressed the recent illegal demolitions of Palestinians’ residences, the worst in decades. 

It also discussed the ongoing abuses of Palestinians by the Israeli occupation, which increased after a recent wave of normalisation, and urged the importance of addressing the Palestinian case, calling for international support through the “activation of international humanitarian law and international human rights mechanisms”.

Read also: Qatar strongly condemns ‘illegal’ demolition of Palestinian homes

Recently, Qatar condemned the illegal demolition of Palestinian houses by Israeli forces in a statement released on Friday.

In the statement, Qatar slammed the demolitions as “an act that aims to displace Palestinians and destroy their land in severe violation to international agreements”.

The statement also renewed Qatar’s firm position of supporting the “just Palestinian cause” and the rights of its people in establishing an independent state based on the borders of 1967 with Jerusalem as its capital.

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