Qatar-UNESCO Partnership Supports Education, Peace

QNA Doha Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) HE Dr Nasser bin Hamad Al Hanza...

QNADohaPermanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) HE Dr Nasser bin Hamad Al Hanzab has affirmed that Qatar has established its relations with UNESCO on common foundations and values, pointing to the Qatari support and UNESCOs strategic plans and programmes to promote values and concepts to achieve peace, stability and coexistence with different cultures on the basis of mutual respect between peoples.Al Hanzab in an interview with Al-Raya newspaper said the world needs UNESCO today more than ever, noting the importance of the international community’s support to activate the organisation’s role in promoting stability in the world through education and culture.He stressed that Qatar has established its relations with UNESCO on common foundations and values, in terms of the directions and policies adopted by the state since its accession to this prestigious organisation, and has worked with UNESCO to strengthen programmes locally, regionally, and internationally in all sectors in UNESCO’s areas of competence, namely: education, culture, science, communication and media.Al Hanzab pointed out that Qatar has worked to support development programmes and plans in the education sector in particular, and in partnership with Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and Education Above All Foundation (EAA), under the international leadership of HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, where HH was appointed in 2003 as UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, in recognition and appreciation of Her Highness’ clear efforts in supporting the educational process and protecting the right to education at the international level.He underlined that the UNESCO Doha Office is one of the models for partnership and cooperation between Qatar and this international organisation, to implement projects, programmes, and initiatives in many countries, and extend to the sectors of education, culture, heritage and science, empower youth of both genders, and confront extremism and violence.Al Hanzab stated that UNESCO is working to achieve international peace and security and the goals of sustainable development, according to the charter of the organization that emerged from the London Conference of 19461947, which stipulated: “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” From this standpoint, Qatar has worked to support development programmes and plans in the education sector in particular, and in partnership with QF and EAA, he added.Al Hanzab pointed out that one of the most prominent fruits of the cooperation between Qatar and UNESCO, and the partnership with EAA, clear to all international partners, is the State of Qatar’s keenness on education, which is at the heart of UNESCO’s work and its biggest fields, noting that this is evident through the support provided by Qatar to develop and modernize it locally in accordance with the highest international standards. This keenness is manifested internationally through qualitative initiatives and projects, such as the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), Educate A Child (EAC), and EAA, which provided an opportunity for more than 10 million children to attend education in the most vulnerable and marginalized regions of the world, particularly conflict zones, he stressed.Al Hanzab explained that Qatar was one of the first supporting countries that cooperated with UNESCO to support education in Beirut through the initiative of the Qatar Fund For Development (QFFD) and EAA to rehabilitate destroyed schools and restart the educational process for male and female students who were deprived of their right to education, in response to a campaign, which was launched after the explosion of Beirut Port in August 2020. He said under the leadership of the Qatari diplomacy, the United Nations adopted in New York in June of 2020, the Qatari proposal to take measures to protect the right to education from attacks in times of emergency and conflict, and declared the “International Day to Protect Education from Attack”, which falls on Sep. 9 of each year, adopting a resolution affirming the right to education for all and the importance of ensuring a safe and enabling learning environment in humanitarian emergencies, which is consistent with the strategies and objectives of UNESCO and international and humanitarian law.He pointed out that the world is witnessing the results of these partnerships on the ground, as the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) organized on Sep. 9 last year, in the presence of Director General of the UNESCO Audrey Azoulay, an important meeting that discussed mechanisms for protecting education in light of conflict, where HH Sheikha Moza launched a joint project between the Education Above All Foundation and UNESCO aimed to develop monitoring mechanisms for attacks on education and to collect data proving the occurrence of these attacks, through partnership with Harvard University. This project is the first of its kind to establish monitoring mechanisms and provide accurate statistics, he added.Regarding Qatar’s support for UNESCO, Al Hanzab said Qatar has supported the organisation to organise the Ministerial Conference of Ministers of Education on countering hate speech through education. It is a conference to discuss appropriate means to issue recommendations and international programs with the aim of printing indicative publications directed to world countries, explaining methods of combating violence of all kinds, through school and educational curricula.Al Hanzab pointed out that organising the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be a historic event not only for Qatar but for the Arab region, and for the world.He said since 2010, Qatar has started to rely on youth and consolidate the role of sport in development and in establishing world peace through sport. He added that Qatar also seek for this tournament to have a historical legacy for the Arabs and the Middle East region. Therefore, Qatar pays great attention to this aspect, as sport plays important role in promoting the basic values of building positive cultural dialogue between cultures, and building bridges of communication between peoples on the principle of brotherhood and respect, he noted.Al Hanzab stressed that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will be the first time that the largest football tournament in the world will be held on Arab soil, and it will also be the first FIFA World Cup in terms of close distances between stadiums, which will make it easier for fans to attend two matches in one day. Therefore, it will also give football fans complete comfort and freedom of choice, so that each of them will form their own experience in this exceptional tournament by all standards, he added.He pointed out that Qatar has given priority to Arab cultures and traditions in choosing the designs of the eight stadiums hosting the 2022 World Cup.