Qatar-based entities joined efforts with UNESCO on Monday to support the UN’s Transforming Education Summit, scheduled to take place in New York between 16 and 19 September. The latest agreement adds to key initiatives by Qatar to promote global and equal access to education.
The trilateral agreement was signed between UNESCO, the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), and the Education Above All Foundation (EAA).
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“The agreement focuses on critical topics that require global collective attention to accelerate progress towards achieving SDG [Sustainable Development Goal] 4, which aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all,” said QFFD.
The latest agreement adds to key initiatives by Qatar to promote global and equal access to education.
In 2020, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed resolution 74/275 on May 28 to establish September 9 as the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.
This was an initiative proposed by Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of EAA and a member of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocates Group.
According to EAA, more than 72 million children across the world are unschooled due to poverty and marginilisation, with 59 million of them being at primary school level and unable to receive an education.
The organisation was able to provide more than 10 million out-of-school children with access to education.
Also in 2020, EAA and QFFD agreed to provide more than 57,000 children in Somalia with basic education.
In March, EAA launched a project in Pakistan that provides mothers with cash on the condition that they enroll their children in schools. The initiative was in cooperation with the Asia Development Bank.
Through the project, the organisations will be able to enroll 960,000 children from disadvantaged communities in Pakistan into primary schools. A third of the country’s population, 22.8 million children between the ages of five and 16, are currently out of school.
Meanwhile, EAA’s has been playing a significant role in addressing the disrupted education faced by Palestinians under the illegal Israeli occupation.
During the deadly Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip in May last year, EAA held an event titled “Students’ Voices from Gaza: Investing in their education for a brighter future.”
The event gave Palestinian students the chance to address their struggles under the apartheid state.
Last year, EAA granted 339 scholarships to Palestinian youth to study at Al-Quds Bard College for the Arts and Sciences (AQB) in Abu Dis, Palestine, for eight years.
