Doha Declaration Calls for Promotion of Major GIS Development Uses in Sustainable Development

Doha, February 06 (QNA) - The Second High-level Forum on Global Geospatial Information Management concluded here today and issued the Doha Declaration which has called for promotion of major GIS development uses by supporting activities that operate within the global map for sustainable development as well as focus on management of risks caused as a result of natural disasters and to develop strategies to reduce their effects. The Declaration called for strengthening cooperation and teamwork among all States and concerned parties, in coordination with the United Nations in order to improve the framework of geo-referenced and its infrastructure. The participants underscored the importance of geographical location in the follow-up changes on the ground to serve all aspects of social and economic development. The declaration urged the need to create an infrastructure for geographic information in each country to be sophisticated and reliable, based on the highest international standards. The Doha Declaration also stressed the significance of finding and developing spatial information systems at regional levels and the establishment of mechanisms for the coordination and cooperation between the concerned parties and the application of relevant strategies. President of the Statistics Authority Sheikh Hamad bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani, who is also the chairman of the 2nd Global Forum on Geospatial Management, said in his closing speech that Qatar as a nation has a role to play and responsibility towards the world, and the hosting of this conference is consistent with this role. He praised the consultations and contributions made by the speakers at the conference, saying that it contained deep and important information which created a positive reaction and thus contributed to the success of the conference. HE the chairman of the 2nd Global Forum on Geospatial Management stressed that the papers presented at the conference and interventions of the participants have clearly highlighted the important role of spatial information in dealing with a wide range of issues and topics. He pointed out that the discussions that took place in the conference were based on the outputs of the First Global Forum on Geospatial Management, which was held in the Korean capital Seoul, "In this gathering we reached a stage of clarity about what we specifically want from Geographical Information System (GIS)," he said. Concluding, he praised the deep discussions that took place and high level experiences that attended the Forum, which contributed to the outcomes to which we all were looking at," he added. Participants, in their discussions over the three days, focused on ways to develop appropriate mechanisms to form the basis for the geographic database of the world, that include statistical and geographical information and can serve as a reference in case of emergency. They also discussed future trends in the field of geospatial information, its relation to sustainable development and how to coordinate and exchange experiences among the participating countries. (END)