In the framework of examining the extent to which the State of Qatar has achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDSs) adopted by the United Nations in 2000, the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics (MDPS) and The Diplomatic Institute at Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the fifth report of the Millennium Development Goals in Qatar, which is the last report in respect of the current MDGs. It is expected that the United Nations will declare new goals for the development agenda beyond 2015 in next September. Qatar Ranked 31 in Human Development Report 2014
The report data demonstrated that the State of Qatar is committed to achieve the MDGs in order to improve life conditions in the country, and has made great strides towards achieving these goals, particularly in terms of universal education and health care and improving people's standard of living. This has helped the State of Qatar to be ranked 31st globally in the2014 Human Development Report (HDR) and considered within the group of countries with very high human development index. The fifth report of the MDG for 2014 focuses on the progress made by the State of Qatar in achieving the desirable goals and shows the challenges facing the state, particularly in terms of empowering women to participate fully in economic and political life, as well as the challenges associated with ensuring environment sustainability, which constitute one of the major pillars of Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV2030).      The report is divided into eight sections; the first section focused on Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger. The second section focused on Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education, the third section highlighted Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, while section four shed light on Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality Rates. Additionally, section five highlighted Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health, Section six tackled issues related to Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other diseases, section seven covered Ensuring environmental sustainability, while section eight focuses on Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development. Extreme poverty and hunger do not pose a challenge to Qatar
The report explained that the first goal; Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, does not pose a challenge to Qatar, which has provided well-being to all citizens and residents, through securing sustainable livelihoods and safety and social welfare networks, where the state provides stable social security programs to individuals who do not have source of income - such supplemental security monthly income secures safe and stable living - in addition to providing health care and educational services. Qatar almost achieved the goal of providing universal education by 2015
In the second section that deals with the goal “Achieve Universal Primary Education”, the report confirmed that the State of Qatar has almost achieved the complete goal of providing access for all children of both sexes to education by 2015 as the primary school enrollment of both sexes exceeded (92%). This is attributed to that fact that Qatar has adopted appropriate policies and procedures for the development of the education sector, especially primary education, and for the provision of financial allocations for the expansion of education infrastructure and the development of services. Girls outnumbered boys in higher education
In the third section that deals with the goal “Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women”, the report pointed out that the State of Qatar made a significant progress in achieving gender parity by providing access to education at all levels. It even made a remarkable progress in the field of higher education, where the number of girls has exceeded that of boys. Even though the parity rate between the two sexes is 1.75, the economic participation of Qatari women in labor market is still low and poses a challenge. Women need to be encouraged to work in non-traditional jobs, such as scientific occupations and art crafts. The advocacy of Qatari women’s political participation still poses another challenge which requires the development of a plan to promote woman’s representation in the elected national councils in the next phase. Cutting under-five mortality rates by two-thirds
The third section covered the goal “Reduce Child Mortality Rates”, as the State of Qatar has been able to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by the reduction of mortality rates of children under the age of five by two-thirds 3 years ahead of the deadline in 2015. This achievement is attributed to the effective social, economic and health policies adopted by Qatar. Such policies have contributed to the provision of various basic health needs of children and have ensured their quality through the introduction of “Healthy Child Clinic” in most of the health centers around Qatar, and the vaccination campaigns against epidemic and infectious diseases, which included all children, as well as health education and awareness campaigns carried out by various child healthcare stakeholders.  
Qatar exceeded the target of reducing maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters
The fifth section devoted to the goal “Improve Maternal Health”. The data show that the State of Qatar has exceeded the target of reducing maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters ahead of schedule, as all births in Qatar are conducted under the supervision of skilled health specialists. Qatar also achieved universal access to reproductive health services for all women. This achievement made in the field of reproductive health for mothers could only be explained by the provision of sufficient good quality healthcare through Healthy Woman Clinics that provide services to women through the widespread healthcare centers in all regions of Qatar, in addition to woman and child care programs provided by Women’s Hospital.
Qatar is Malaria-free
The sixth section that covered the goal “Combat HIV/Aids, Malaria and Other Diseases” confirmed that the State of Qatar has been able to accomplish this goal by achieving the desired target within MDG framework to eradicate malaria and infectious diseases. Thus, Qatar has managed to stop the prevalence of malaria and declare the State as malaria-free, in addition to reducing the prevalence of TB in half and reversing it ahead of schedule. With regard to providing universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS patients, Qatar provided treatment for all HIV/AIDS patients. Qatar continues its efforts to prevent the return or prevalence of this dangerous disease in the State and to protect Qatari society through health education and awareness programs, especially in light of the State’s openness to the world and receiving millions of expatriate workers for the implementation of various development projects.
Including environmental considerations in development planning process in NDS
The seventh section covered the goal “Ensure Environmental Sustainability.” This section emphasized that the State of Qatar has been able to achieve majority of the targets related to this goal, as it has taken environmental considerations in the development planning process, by including them in the National Development Strategy (2011-2015). Qatar has further provided safe drinking water and proper sanitation to all inhabitants, and managed to reduce the negative effects of biodiversity loss through the expansion of nature reserves in land and sea areas, where the proportion of  protected land and sea areas of the total area of the State has exceeded the target set by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Furthermore, Qatar has been able to provide decent housing for all population, hence there are no slum dwellers in Qatar. However, one challenge remains in order to ensure sustainable environment in Qatar; namely, the greenhouse gas emissions, which Qatar will hopefully reduce through the adoption of an environmental policy that focuses on emphasizing the use of clean energy sources which will eventually lead to carbon and waste-free environment. Development aid and assistance constitute a key pillar in the State’s foreign policy
The final section of the report is devoted to tackling Goal 8: “Develop a Global Partnership for Development.” This section revealed that the State of Qatar has effectively contributed to the development of a global partnership for development. Today, Qatar is a donor state and an influential partner in international development aid, as the development aid and assistance constitute a key pillar in the State’s foreign policy. The base of countries covered by Qatari aid has expanded to reach more than 110 countries in Asia, Africa and other regions of the world. Qatar has also adopted an open trading system, which is evidenced by the commercial exchange with more than 160 countries from various continents. Qatar has also entered into business partnerships and agreements in the field of encouraging foreign investments, thanks to its economic system which is free and open to other economies.
Achievements and Challenges
Despite the developmental achievements witnessed in the State of Qatar in realizing most of the MDGs, no one denies the existence of some challenges - mainly related to certain social behaviors- which should be changed. Furthermore, there is a need to  create an appropriate social development path regarding women's empowerment, enhance awareness among various segments in the society, integrating all social groups (young people, children, women , the elderly) in the development process to broaden participation, and continue integrating various MDGs NDS 2011- 2016.
The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics and The Diplomatic Institute hope that this report helps stakeholders in designing development and policy plans on improving the population’s standard of living and education, health and environment sectors, in addition to assisting agencies involved in achieving international development.    
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