Under the auspices of HE Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Qatar Committee for the Alliance of Civilizations, Dr Ahmed bin Hassan al-Hammadi, the Qatar Committee for the Alliance of Civilizations and the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science held an honouring ceremony for winners of the Qatar Alliance of Civilization Award 2023-2024 at the Diplomatic Club in Doha.
Addressing the ceremony, al-Hammadi said he is hopeful that the participation in the upcoming Qatar Alliance of Civilization Award 2025-2026 will increase, noting the increasing interest of Qatar in the alliance of civilisations both at the educational curricula and the practices pursued by the educational institutions.
The alliance of civilisations currently represents one of the most consequential tools of soft diplomacy that promotes peaceful co-existence among nations and peoples, he said, pointing out that Qatar has been interested in cultural dialogue and alliance of civilisations since its independence in 1971, and this was embodied in building corporate frameworks that offered activities and broadly promoted understanding and co-operation among diverse civilisations and cultures.
Qatar's interest in the alliance of civilisations has dramatically increased following the launch of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in 2007, he said. This was demonstrated in the participation of Qatar, Turkiye and Spain, as the founding countries, in setting the UNAOC core pillars, with Qatar hosting the 4th UNAOC forum, the dialogue conference between Arab and Chinese civilisations, and patronising the 8th Global Forum of UNAOC held in New York in November 2018, he pointed out.
Al-Hammadi added that Qatar's priority for the alliance of civilisations was also demonstrated in the Qatar National Vision 2030 which underscored the importance of patronising and supporting dialogue of civilisations and co-existence among diverse religions and cultures.
The Qatar Committee for the Alliance of Civilizations was established in 2010 and strives to promote Qatar's role in highlighting the contribution of the Islamic civilisation, as well as other civilisation in human progress, in addition to resolving disputes and conflict and underscoring the importance of values of tolerance, solidarity, peace and sharing expertise among nations based on justice and equality in pursuit of achieving the sublime international ends.
The Qatar Alliance of Civilization Award comes within the framework of implementing Qatar's plan for the Alliance of Civilizations 2023-2027 which primarily aims to promote understanding among nations and forge deep-rooted relationships, in addition to addressing the causes of division and misunderstanding, culminating in the humanitarian objective of enhancing co-existence, accepting others and respecting people and their diverse cultures, he said.
The plan includes implementing multiple programmes and activities to achieve the goals of the alliance in a multitude of fields and primarily education. The plan in education includes multiple goals, such as providing appreciation awards for outstanding research and funding solid research in the dialogue among civilisations.
Al-Hammadi thanked the curators of the award for their steadfast efforts to have a successful project, wishing the winners and schools further success in providing the best research. (QNA)
