Ambassador of Qatar to Lebanon Mohamed Hassan al-Jaber participated in the ceremony held by Unesco's regional office in Beirut to rehabilitate three university buildings that were damaged in the explosion of the Beirut port (which took place in August 2020), in partnership with Education Above All and support from Qatar Fund for Development.
The project is part of Unesco's Beirut initiative, which will see the UN organisation rehabilitate more than 100 educational locations that were damaged, with support from Qatar Fund for Development. Minister of Education in the Lebanese caretaker government Tariq al-Majzoub said that Unesco's initiative was supported by Qatar, who took it upon itself to renovate educational facilities in Lebanon, including the buildings of the Lebanese University, St Joseph University, and the American University in Beirut (AUB) that were in the explosion's vicinity. Unesco took charge of coordinating that process.
For his part, the ambassador said that the efforts of Education Above All and Unesco, in addition to support of $10mn from Qatar Fund for Development, aim to rehabilitate 55 schools, 20 educational centers, and three universities. These efforts will help ensure the continuation of the educational process and guarantee the right of children and young people in having access to education.
He highlighted that the projects of Education Above All have been ongoing since 2013 in co-operation with UN organisations and agencies like Unicef and Unrwa, in addition to educational institutions like AUB and non-governmental organisations. He noted that these projects benefited 30,000 people.