Visit to France by Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Heir Apparent and Deputy Emir of Qatar (February 2-4)
French presidency of the Security Council
Franco-American university cooperation
Visit to France by Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Heir Apparent and Deputy Emir of Qatar
At the invitation of the President of the Republic, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Heir Apparent and Deputy Emir of Qatar will visit France from February 2 to 4 for his second official visit to our country.
We maintain continuous political dialogue based on trust with Qatar’s highest authorities. The Emirate is a privileged partner of France. This visit will make it possible to further strengthen the relationship of friendship and trust between the two countries.
Sheikh Tamim will be received by the President of the Republic for a working lunch on February 3. He will also meet with the Prime Minister, the President of the Senate, the President of the National Assembly, the Minister of the Interior, Overseas France and Local Authorities, the Minister for Higher Education, the Minister of Defense and the Mayor of Paris.
This visit will provide an opportunity to strengthen our relations and to address the main regional and bilateral issues, in particular in the areas of defense, security, and the economy, as well as in the areas of higher education and scientific and cultural cooperation. France and Qatar have developed very close ties in all of these areas in particular.
This visit falls within the continuation of recent high-level visits between France and Qatar, and in particular the State visit by the Emir of Qatar to Paris in June 2009 and the visits made by the President of the Republic to Qatar in January and November 2008 and November 2009.
Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani visited France in March 2004; this was his first visit abroad as Heir Apparent.
French presidency of the Security Council
Within the framework of its presidency of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) from February 1 to 28, France will focus on peacekeeping and the fight against transnational threats, in addition to the topical regional issues for which the Security Council is responsible
In continuation of the initiative that France launched jointly with the United Kingdom during the previous French presidency of the UNSC in January 2009 and the publication of the “New Horizon” report by the United Nations Secretariat, France intends to continue the efforts begun by the Security Council and the United Nations Secretariat aimed at improving the preparation and monitoring of peacekeeping operations (PKO).
France will organize two main events, focusing on peacekeeping operations and also on transnational threats:
- On February 10, 2010: Secretariat’s first quarterly report to the UNSC on peacekeeping. Alain Le Roy, Head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), and Susanna Malcorra, Headof the Department of Field Support (DFS), will review the strategic and cross-cutting issues relating to peacekeeping operations, as well as the reforms that are in progress within the Secretariat. Beyond assessing the specific challenges of each PKO, our goal is to encourage structured and regular exchanges between the Permanent Representatives and the Secretariat with regard to the peacekeeping priorities.
On February 12, 2010, a Security Council open debate will take place on the transition and exit strategies of the peacekeeping operations. France would like to encourage debate at the Security Council on the ways to adapt the peacekeeping operations (change from military component to police and then civilian components), and on how to end the operations (hand over to local authorities, United Nations agencies and other competent regional and international stakeholders) during the post-crisis stage.
- Following the UNSC debate on December 8, 2009, under Burkina Faso’s presidency, on the issue of drug trafficking as a threat to international security, France will organize, on February 24, 2010, a presentation by the Executive Director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, on transnational threats (in particular drug trafficking and organized crime) to peace and international security. These threats have an impact on the stability of States and regional, and even, international stability, in several parts of the world.
Franco-American university cooperation
France and the United States are strengthening their university partnership.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has supported the “Alliance” Program between 3 French universities, the Université de Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, the Ecole Polytechnique and Sciences Po-Paris, and the Columbia University, in the United States, since 2002.
The goal of this partnership is to increase the mobility of students, researchers and teachers, to strengthen Franco-American cooperation in the area of research, while encouraging and facilitating research and public debate, with a particular focus on multidisciplinary approaches and the issues associated with globalization.
At the program’s Executive Committee meeting in Paris, the “Alliance” Program will receive $2 million today through a joint fund. Columbia University is contributing 50% of this fund; France will contribute the remaining 50%. Of that amount, 56% is coming from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, 12.5% from the Ile de France Regional Council, and 10.5% from the three higher education institutions.
This joint fund will enable the “Alliance” Program to expand its activities:
- double majors (at the bachelors, masters and doctorate level). More than 200 French and American students will be involved from 2011 to 2012.
- 27 French and American visiting professors during the 2011-2012 school year;
- joint project proposals and assistance for doctorate-level mobility;
- support for formative long-term collaboration will be strengthened through two priority topics: climate change and African studies;
- the lecture programs, which have become increasingly successful since 2002 (230 lectures in total, with 2,655 people attending 36 lectures in 2009), will be continued.
Funding of the “Alliance” Program extends the range of instruments available to support cooperation with the United States in the areas of higher education and research. France thus has five funds linked to the major universities and a cross-cutting fund aimed at increasing university and scientific exchanges. The “Alliance” Program is a pioneering program that allows French higher education institutions to invest directly in the fund and take over the management of the program from the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has been involved in American university foundations since the early 1990s with the aim of developing transatlantic partnerships in the areas of higher education and research. Public resources, with equal contributions from the Universities of Berkeley, Stanford, Chicago and MIT, invested in funds managed by these universities, have provided support for educational and scientific projects for nearly 20 years now.