Qatar’s support for Unesco’s global projects wins praise

UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Representative for the Gulf States and Yemen and Director of the Unesco Regional Office in Doha Salah El Din Zaki Khaled has praised Qatar’s support for Unesco projects around the world, stressing the UN’s interest in strengthening partnership with all institutions and ministries in Qatar. In an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA), on the occasion of the recent assumption of his new position, Khaled said that Unesco’s work in Qatar during the past several years has been characterised by deep relations and strong partnerships, especially with the continuous support of various institutions in Qatar for Unesco programmes, including Qatar Foundation (QF), Education Above All Foundation, Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation, Qatar Museums, Qatar National Library, and others, as well as the Qatari government’s support for Unesco projects worldwide. From the beginning, Qatar has strongly supported Unesco’s programmes.

As a result of its commitment and efforts, Qatar has hosted Unesco’s Al Reem Biosphere Reserve since 2007, which has provided unparalleled research opportunities for sustainable development and the use of arid lands. There is also a Unesco-Unevoc Centre located within the Doha University of Science and Technology, which aims to promote technical and vocational education and innovation in the country and abroad, he said. In the past few years, Qatari universities have established three Unesco “chairs” in various scientific fields, and the cities of Doha and Al Wakra are part of the Unesco Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC).

The archaeological site of Al Zubarah was registered as the first Qatari site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2013, while Doha was recognised in 2021 as a part of Unesco Creative Cities Network. Moreover, a programme was launched with the Katara – the Cultural Village Foundation for the first festival for cultural diversity, and a regional programme in co-operation with the Qatar Library aimed at protecting documentary heritage was launched. He also noted the recent election of Qatar as a member of the World Heritage Committee, where Qatar was already a member of many of the organisation’s committees.

Qatar’s recent election as a member of the World Heritage Committee confirms Qatar’s full awareness of its obligations towards the various conventions and legal instruments of Unesco and its commitment to exchanging experiences and deepening learning from various processes. It is also an opportunity to learn more about global experiences and good practices in line with the principles of integrity and authenticity. Khaled stressed that Unesco, which has been present in Qatar since 1976, is looking forward to strengthening its partnership with Qatar with more activities and programmes in the coming years.

He pointed out that after consultations and interviews with a number of senior Qatari officials, including HE the Minister of Education and Higher Education Buthaina bint Ali al-Jabr al-Nuaimi and HE the Minister of Culture Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Hamad bin Jassim bin Hamad al-Thani, they have agreed on broad lines of co-operation between Qatar and Unesco in the next stage in all areas and programmes of the organisations work related to education, culture, and science. He pointed out that the priority for both sides is to enhance the country’s national heritage, keeping pace with the pioneering role of Qatar in the process of education transformation, as Qatar played an important role in preparing for the Transforming Education Summit that will be held in New York in September. The organisation is participating with Qatar in all the efforts that Qatar will make in this field.

Khaled revealed the readiness of Unesco and the UN organisations present in Doha to participate in the activities of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, which are organised by the Education Above All Foundation during the tournament. A daily exhibition will be held on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Unesco will also support the fourth goal on education, as well as goals related to the environment, freedom of media and opinion and everything related to the creative and cultural industries.

Khaled also praised the efforts of Qatar’s government to consolidate a culture of peace and dialogue at the global level and highlight partnerships with Unesco, which was established with the aim of promoting lasting peace through the fields of education and culture. He stressed Qatar’s keenness to establish a basis for dialogue between different cultures and common understanding through its many partners. This also includes Qatar’s support for declaring September 9 the International Day to Protect Education from Attacks and raising awareness of the plight of millions of children and youth living in countries affected by conflict.

The joining of Qatar schools to the Unesco Global Network (ASPnet) reinforces the interest of education in Qatar, with Unesco educational institutions around the world, in a common goal of building peace in the minds of children and youth, as member schools promote the ideals and values of Unesco by promoting the human, ethical, cultural and international dimensions of education, as well as supporting international understanding, peace, intercultural dialogue, sustainable development and quality education in practice, Khaled added. He stressed on the interest of the Unesco Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen in promoting a stronger partnership and continuous cooperation with all Gulf countries and Yemen. Recently, plans were drawn up to support Unesco programmes in all these countries and to contribute to strategies and development plans for each country separately, noting that the organisation contributes to activating the United Nations frameworks for co-operation in the field of sustainable development for the next five years in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen in the main areas of Unesco’s work, namely education, science, culture, media and informatics.

This contribution will be strengthened in the coming period within the framework of specific projects in each of these countries with regard to developing the education sector in particular, after agreeing on a new roadmap after the Education Transformation Summit next September. The Director of the Unesco office stressed that the organisation will also contribute to the development of everything related to cultural heritage in the region, especially the creative industries and ways to preserve tangible and intangible heritage, in addition to encouraging the submission of new proposals to the Unesco World Heritage List, as well as in the science sector and the cooperation with all the relevant sectors on projects to preserve the environment and deal with climate change and its effects. As for the communication and information sector, he added that work is underway with governments and institutions to support the media and awareness sectors and combat misinformation and violence and hatred on social media platforms, especially among young people.

He stressed the importance of promoting creative industries in the Gulf region and strengthening them in the regional environment, as the region have rich heritage, and therefore needs to transform creative industries from informal activities to an economic sector that contributes to development and operate a larger number of factories related to these industries, pointing to the importance of developing creative industries in various fields, including cinema and music. The Director of the Unesco office noted the continuation of the Organisation’s work in preserving archaeological and historical sites in Yemen and rebuilding archaeological and historical buildings and sites that were affected by the armed conflict, saying that the largest project of the Unesco Regional Office in the Gulf States and Yemen is related to Yemen, as the office have funding from the European Union that amounts to 200mn euros to implement second phase of the restoration of buildings that were affected as a result of the conflict, as well as restore all historical buildings and markets in the cities of Aden, Sanaa and Zabid. Thousands of young men and women have been working in renovations, he said, pointing out that 400 historical homes have been restored,and a traditional brick-making plant has been established to rebuild these buildings.

He added that in the next stage, the geographical scope of this project will be expanded to include eight governorates in Yemen, including Socotra Island, to revive the creative and cultural industries to provide means of livelihood for youth and communities, as well as organise events related to Yemeni heritage worldwide. For example, events on Yemeni heritage will be organised in Paris, as well as Doha in the near future. Khaled pointed out that an agreement was signed between the Unesco office in Doha and Qatar National Library recently regarding co-operation in organising an exhibition on the documentary heritage of Yemen, which will be launched from May to July 2023.

He explained that this exhibition relies on unique photographs and manuscripts about Yemen in order to enrich awareness of the importance of protecting the documentary heritage of Yemen and draw attention to the need to preserve it, emphasising also the interest and focus of Unesco on supporting the education sector in Yemen during the coming period. .