The WHO Country Office in Qatar was opened in March 2022. The WHO Representative in Qatar is Dr Rayana Bou-Haka, appointed on 2 June 2023.

Dedicated to the health and well-being of all people and guided by science, WHO leads and champions global efforts to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance to live a healthy life. WHO, in collaboration with the Government and Ministry of Public Health in Qatar, is dedicated to establishing a strong partnership to better improve the health and well-being of all people in Qatar and champion efforts to make Qatar a role model in public health inside the Region and beyond.

Mission

WHO's mission is to:

strengthen national and regional cooperation with Qatar as a top priority for its work;

further enhance the strategic partnership with Qatar, which has been, and continues to be, a key partner in health in the regional and global arenas;

move the partnership forward to broader horizons that will enable both sides to jointly promote health action in the Region and beyond through initiatives, programmes and policies that build on Qatar's developmental and health achievements;

work on the ground with national health authorities and contribute to strengthening WHO's capacity for support through field-based programmatic interventions to strengthen health service delivery, share experiences, best practices and lessons learned at the local, regional and global levels;

and work with other United Nations agencies, as well as ministries and government institutions.

Vision

Member States are at the centre of WHO's work.

The WHO Country Office in Qatar through the provision of strategic, policy and technical support contributes to Qatar’s endeavours to advance health and well-being at national, regional and international levels and establishing Qatar's health sytem as one of the most advanced health systems in the world to ensure optimal levels of health and well-being for the Qatari people.

Our work at the country level is in line with WHO's extended Thirteenth General Programme of Work and WHO's priorities:

shift towards promoting health and well-being and prevent disease by addressing its root causes;

reorient health systems towards primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage; 

develop systems and tools for health emergency preparedness and response at all levels, governance and financing/connected and coordinated globally by WHO; 

harness the power of science, research, innovation, data, delivery and digital technologies as critical enablers of the other priorities; and

strengthen WHO to lead and direct on global public health and perform with empowered country offices.

We are guided by:

WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work

Country Cooperation Strategy for WHO and Qatar

National vision 

National strategies

National plans of action

Sustainable Development Goals.

Who we are

The WHO Country Office in Qatar is the newest WHO country office in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, However, the collaboration between WHO and the Government is historic and goes back several decades.

What we do

WHO works with a wide range of partners and stakeholders, communities and individuals to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. From responding to COVID-19 to fighting communicable diseases and chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, to supporting the creation of healthy cities WHO aims to confront the biggest health challenges of our time and measurably advance the well-being of the people in Qatar and the Region.

Organizational structure

We are one of the WHO’s 152 country offices that form, along with the Geneva headquarters to our 6 regional offices, and other sub-offices around the world, a One-WHO.

Connected at the three levels of the Organization, WHO’s play an essential role in improving local health systems and coordinating the global response to health threats. In a country with advanced and strong health system like Qatar, we work to support the efforts of the government and partners to maximize the health gains, set an example, support government to transfer knowledge, success stories and advancements to other countries in the Region and beyond.

Who we work with

In full coordination and collaboration with the government of Qatar, WHO Country Office works with the health authorities, NGOs, civil society, international organizations, concerned ministries, academia, experts, researchers, health workers, advocates, and other stakeholders inside Qatar.

Collaboration is at the heart of all we do. partnership is our tool. Mobilizing every part of society is our aim to advance the health and safety of all.

Governance

As part of the One-WHO, the newly established WHO Qatar belongs to the WHO governance system, which is based on the following platforms:

World Health Assembly (WHA): decision-making body attended by 194 Member States

Executive Board (and Programme Budget and Administration Committee): 34 health experts advise and facilitate the work of the WHA (5 from EMR)

The Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean: decision-making body at the Regional Office attended by 22 countries and territories.