Qatar makes a significant and appreciable contribution to assisting the least developed countries to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, by strengthening its partnerships in most needy regions, ensuring the achievement of social, economic and environmental development, as well as accelerating sustainable development by enabling countries to benefit from their latent potential towards progress and development.
The goals of the Education Above All Foundation (EAA) — which is one of the largest global institutions in the domain of development and education — coinciding with the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2022-2031, adopted by the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, and endorsed by the UN General Assembly in April, calling on all relevant stakeholders to commit to its implementation by playing an active role in more than 60 countries around the world, in creating a global movement for human, social, and economic development through quality education and welfare programmes.
Director of EAA's Al Fakhoura Programme Talal Al Hathlal confirmed in a statement to Qatar News Agency (QNA) that the Foundation's work focuses on poor areas, conflict and disaster zones, by meeting the needs of children and women, and helping them be active members of their communities, and providing them with the tools and means needed for sustainable development and creating an environment of peace, security, justice and prosperity.
Al Hathlal said that the 5th UN Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5) taking place in Doha from March 5-9, under the theme: 'From Potential to Prosperity' — will focus on investing in the human asset, eradicating poverty, building capacities, and harnessing science, technology, and innovation, as well as supporting structural transformation as a means for achieving prosperity. He added that EAA is active in poor and geographically remote areas where infrastructure is absent, and where the number of dropouts is high, and where there is exposure to violence, explaining that the number of beneficiaries of the Foundation reached more than 15mn out-of-school children, at a cost of $2.6bn.
Director of EAA's Al Fakhoura Program noted that EAA operates in 35 least-developed countries, with more than 8.3mn out-of-school children directly benefiting from the Foundation's programs worth $1.4bn, with major support from the Qatar Fund for Development, amongst other development funds, international development banks, and international and non-profit organizations, pointing out that the Foundation provides scholarships and in-kind support for children deprived of school, as well as supports family livelihoods, relying on intensive, flexible, and comprehensive education, building and renovating schools, preparing them to be more suitable for both sexes and children, while providing educational supplies, training teachers, school administrators, and local educational agencies, and addressing problems facing ethnic minorities and children with disabilities.
Al Hathlal explained that the Foundation works with more than 80 partners through five programs: Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict, Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), Educate a Child, Al Fakhoura, and Innovation Development. He explained that Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict contributes to ensuring quality, equitable, and inclusive education for all, especially for societies experiencing armed conflict and insecurity, by advocating for accountability and ending the culture of impunity against attacks on education, as well as empowering rights holders with the necessary knowledge and skills to defend their right to education, which in turn leads to a more peaceful, fair, and prosperous society.
Al Hathlal elaborated that Reach Out to Asia (ROTA) seeks, through its interventions in the most deprived areas, to create a world in which young people can enjoy a sense of belonging, and empowerment, by developing their knowledge and skills, and providing them with green skills for the youth; to enhance their role in global challenges, especially in the field of climate change. The Al Fakhoora program was launched in 2009 at Al Fakhoura School in the northern Gaza Strip.
Talal Al Hathlal explained that the programme cooperates with relevant international organisations, making it a machine for education and reconstruction in many countries of the world, providing thousands of scholarships to refugees and displaced persons for them to complete their higher education, with the number of beneficiaries the world over reaching more than 10,000 scholarships in local and international universities.
As for the Educate a Child program, he explained that the programme is a success story and a unique partnership between the EAA and the United Nations, launched in 2012 to reduce the number of children deprived of basic education in various parts of the world, adding that within ten years, the program was able to support more than 15mn children offering radical and tangible changes, benefiting societies, and laying the foundations for a more sustainable world, whose conditions prevented children from enrolling in primary education.
Educate a Child united with its strategic partnerships and uses innovative solutions, to uplift factors impeding children's access to quality education, in addition to providing students their most basic needs, such as integrated immunization programs, water and food, in partnership with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and Global Alliance for Food Security. Director of EAA's Al Fakhoora Program indicated that the Foundation's support is not limited to refugees and immigrants abroad, but rather EAA works at home to ensure that all children residing in Qatar have access to fair education opportunities, through EAA's Together Project, in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and in partnership with local supporters.
Through the Innovation Development programme, EAA established the academic bridge to build practical skills in reading, writing and mathematics in more than eight languages from the age of 4-17 years out of school. The program's design is based on the concept of self-learning, qualifying children to complete their basic or vocational education, for them to become productive and effective individuals, capable of leading a societal positive change, with the number of beneficiaries of the free electronic educational resources bank has reached more than 800 thousand beneficiaries, downloaded from 150 countries around the world.
EAA aims through its various programmes and initiatives, to enhance young people's capabilities, prepare for humanitarian crises, confront them and recover from them, making the youth more capable of effective participation and positive contribution in their local communities. EAA does so by organising training programs to improve the capacity of young people in humanitarian work and peacebuilding, teaching about the concept of global citizenship, including the youth in activities and campaigns, and holding meetings to bring them together with leaders, decision-makers, and stakeholders, in addition to their peers in other countries, for knowledge and experience exchange.
Since its inception in 2012, the EAA has provided quality education to millions of children in various parts of the world. It has also pledged together with its partners to enroll millions of marginalised people in schools, most of them in poor countries and conflict zones. It has also been able to implement its plans through a multi-sectoral approach and unique financing model, with a focus on innovation as a tool for social good and effective partnerships. EAA funds over 2,000 educational facilities and more than 50 projects are currently active in more than 45 countries around the world.
