The United Nations Development Programme is helping Qatar formulate its first National Human Development Report, a UN official said.

The report will be a tool for national policy debate and will help authorities to address internal development policies.

"We have extended technical assistance to Qatar to produce the country's first National Human Development Report," Nadir Hadj-Hammou, UN Resident Coordinator and UAE representative for UNDP, told Gulf News.

"The report falls in the framework of Qatar's growing interest in human and national development and its growing role in the development arena both at the regional and international levels."

The UNDP sponsors and supports the compilation of global, regional and national human development reports with the aim of placing human development at the forefront development agendas.

The vision is that of guiding policy makers in addressing issues such as human rights, poverty, education, economic reforms and health.

Qatar's commitment to the issue of human development both at the national and regional level is gaining momentum, following a recent decision by His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, to establish a fund for development with a dedicated agency in the country.

The country's authorities also recently entrusted two newly formed governmental agencies, the Qatari Organisation for Charity Activities and the Qatar Development Fund, to supervise development assistance to least developed countries.

In this framework, Hadj-Hammou said, the UNDP and Qatar signed an agreement on Sunday with the aim of reviving technical cooperation.

"The Letters of Exchange on Technical Cooperation will represent a legal framework for technical cooperation through which more systematic advisory and policy development support will be provided to Qatar through the UNDP office in the UAE," the official said.

"The pact will pave the way for UNDP to develop strategic projects in Qatar that will contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals," he said.

"The report falls in the framework of Qatar's growing interest in human and national development."