Picture: Qatar News Agency
Doha, Qatar: Former UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has lauded Qatar’s impartial mediation efforts, especially in Gaza, at a very challenging time for mediators and humanitarian workers around the world.
Griffiths, who stepped down as UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator earlier this year, delivered a keynote address at the opening of Qatar Mediation Forum yesterday. Drawing on his decades-long career in the humanitarian field, Griffiths highlighted the dilemmas and obstacles facing mediators today. The forum was organised by the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS) in partnership with the Doha Forum.
“Qatar’s recent efforts in Gaza is a rare example of a state mediator which has put impartiality at its core, and I congratulate you for that,” he remarked. “What you have done on mediation and how you got criticised for it, and how you are steadfast, I congratulate you on that.”
Talking about the suffering of the people of Gaza, he said: “These are people like you and me. Like us, they dream of raising a family, watching their children grow, building a home, securing a safe and prosperous future. But these dreams are cut short by the actions of a few so-called leaders, generals, warmongers who condemn their people to suffer with near-total impunity. Indeed, it feels as though not since the founding of the UN those years ago have we lived in such a time where men have felt so free to destroy the lives of ordinary people, overwhelmingly their own, in the service of their ambition of power and resources, all that we hoped to have put behind us many decades ago.”
He said humanitarian diplomacy requires a deep understanding of geopolitics, direct access to key actors influencing the crises at hand, a strong network of contacts and a reputation for integrity. “These are skills and assets which are needed even to begin and then deploy with care and wisdom. Effective humanitarian diplomacy must rely on mediation, on use of dialogue and on the primacy of negotiation. Safe delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians is very often, and for good reasons, the result of mediation.”
Griffiths said dialogue and other peaceful means should prevail over the battle for territory, and cited the example of recent developments in Syria, which he said represent a failure of dialogue.
“There is a conspicuous absence in many crises of the right level of attention to the so-called day after. Gaza is a stark example of this. A long-term solution will remain elusive without proper attention being paid both to Israel’s needs, but also to the needs of those who are the primary victims, the Palestinian people and the region. Mutual security may work. Unilateral security almost never does.
“Mediation is no easy thing. It requires deep wells of resilience, agility, talent, interpersonal skills. Professional mediation depends, as noted, on equal treatment of all those who have the power to stop wars; that may involve talking to those who are committing atrocities.
“In fact, it almost always does. It also may involve those designated as terrorists. And this leaves the mediator open to accusations of moral compromise or hypocrisy.” Sustainable peace cannot rest on unresolved injustices, he said.
In his remarks, CHS Director Dr. Ghassan ElKahlout said: “For Qatar, mediation is a deeply rooted commitment. It is part of the state’s constitutional and normative identity, reflecting a belief that dialogue and trust are the cornerstones of sustainable peace. Over the years, Qatar has worked to facilitate agreements, promote dialogue, and convene platforms like this forum, reaffirming the conviction that even the most difficult conflicts can benefit from open channels of communication.”
He added: "Globally, conflict is on the rise, and peace agreements are becoming increasingly rare. This troubling trend not only deepens human suffering but also threatens stability, leaving communities trapped in cycles of violence."
