Jonathan Wilks, new British Ambassador
A high-level delegation from Qatar is likely to join the Global Vaccine Summit virtually to be hosted by the UK on June 4 as countries across the globe pledge to develop vaccines to fight coronavirus, said Jonathan Wilks, the new British Ambassador.
“The summit helps weaker health sectors across the country. We hope for a high-level delegation from Qatar to participate in the summit. We also hope Qatar will make strong financial contribution,” he said speaking to media persons during a virtual press conference held yesterday.
According to Wilks, effective vaccination is always vital to public health and the summit will play a key role in helping to move beyond this unprecedented global pandemic.
The UK will host Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s third donor pledging conference to mobilise at least $7.4bn in additional resources to protect the next generation with vaccines as well as to reduce disease inequality and create a healthier, safer and more prosperous world. It will also encourage the international community to come together to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The summit, Wilks said, is an important milestone in securing support to immunise 300 million children and save up to eight million lives by 2025.
The summit will virtually bring together political leaders, civil society, public and private donors, vaccine manufacturers and governments to support the global vaccination body Gavi.
In addition to the Global Vaccine Summit, Wilks also emphasised on UK-Qatar bilateral relation and cooperation with Qatar in the fight against COVID-19.
Wilks took up his posting to Doha in March. He was previously Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq, Oman and Yemen. He was also the UK Syria Envoy and Regional Arabic Spokesman, when he was a regular guest in Doha of Al Jazeera.
“In the past three months, several high level telephonic discussions were held between Qatar and UK, related to COVID-19 and other issues,” he said.
“UK has medical research cooperation with Qatar before COVID-19. But now the focus is more in how to combat COVID-19,” he added.
Qatar Airways (QA) has helped thousands of stranded travellers return home in these challenging circumstances.
“We really appreciate the role of Qatar Airways to repatriate British nationals by operating transit flights, in a time when many airlines have stopped their operations,” said Wilks.
He stressed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar and the UK continue their cooperation in several areas including trade, security and regional issues. Wilks is optimistic about building on existing partnerships between Qatar and UK in different areas.
“We seek to be the premier partner of Qatar in hosting FIFA 2022. Our discussions to support Qatar for the 2022 World Cup continues and hopefully an agreement for cooperation will be signed soon,” he said. In reply to a question about the ongoing unjust blockade imposed on Qatar, Wilks said, “The UK has great relationship with all the Gulf states. We do the best we can to resolve the dispute, including by supporting Kuwaiti mediation. We encourage countries to take small steps to defuse the tension.” In trade, Qatari investment into the UK, is estimated over £37bn.
