The 144th National Day of Qatar was celebrated by the Qatari Embassy in The Gambia on Thursday, December 15, 2022, at a festive ceremony held at the Cocoa Ocean Hotel Resort in Bijilo.
The National Day ceremony honoured Sheikh Jassim Bin Mohammed Bin Thani, who laid the groundwork for the current State of Qatar, establishing the State of Qatar on December 18, 1878. Qatar developed to become a unified, autonomous nation under his direction.
His Excellency, Faisal Bin Fald Al Ma’ana, ambassador of the State of Qatar to The Gambia, addressed a festive ceremony and stated that the State of Qatar has always sought to improve international peace and security through mediation intended to settle disputes peacefully and supporting development initiatives in various nations.
“The mediation of the State of Qatar in Sudan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Chad, and other places has contributed to charting the path towards peace, stability, and development, not only in those countries but also at the regional and international level,” he said.
He continued by saying that the State of Qatar fully believes that using peaceful means is the best approach to end conflicts and wars.
He also stated that since the State of Qatar and The Gambia’s diplomatic ties were normalised, there had been significant advancement in a number of areas between the two nations’ relations.
“In order to consolidate the bilateral relations between the two countries, the two parties made mutual visits.” He said as a result of the visits the Qatar Fund for Development signed an agreement to support primary education in The Gambia.
“The agreement focuses on providing education opportunities within primary schools for children who are out of school. It also aims to enable access to education in primary schools for more than 66,000 out-of-school children.”
He expressed gratitude to The Gambia’s leadership, government, and people for their assistance in assisting the Qatari mission.
Sering Modou Njie, the minister of defense, spoke on behalf of the foreign affairs minister and declared that the anniversary of December 18th, 1878, was truly a happy opportunity to rejoice and honor those who helped make Qatar a “great nation.”
According to him, The Gambia and the State of Qatar have maintained outstanding and productive bilateral and multilateral relations in a number of areas of collaboration.
On the political and economic fronts, Minister Njie stated that The Gambia Government has benefited from and will continue to benefit greatly from financial support provided by the State of Qatar. Notable examples include the US$3 million that Qatar’s government provided The Gambia for the implementation of the nation’s transitional justice system and the donation of television equipment to The Gambia Radio and Television Services worth 10 million dalasis (GRTS).
He further remembered that a three-year financing arrangement worth over $7 million US was signed in September 2022 by the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education (MOBSE) and the Qatar Fund for Development.
“This project aims to return dropout primary school pupils to class.”
He thus thanked the government and the State of Qatar for successfully hosting the Federation for International Football Association (FIFA) world cup.