Education Above All and Qatar Charity Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Doha, 24 July 2014. Qatar Charity, a leading Qatar-based organization with global reach and Education Above All, a global initiative of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to support out of school children worldwide and embark on joint field action in a number of countries targeted by EAA's Educate A Child program.
The five-year renewable agreement was signed at Qatar Charity's headquarters in Doha by Yusuf bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Charity, and Marcio Barbosa, Chief Executive Officer of Education Above All.
Mr Al-Kuwari said the agreement supports children's right to education at a time when growing numbers are being denied access to basic education in many parts of the world. He said all people need to join forces to change this situation.
Starting with six countries
Al-Kuwari stressed that Qatar Charity supports education as a pillar of human progress and development. He said the organization finances and supports educational projects in many countries through 18 field offices on three continents.
He pointed out the benefit of the agreement to Qatar Charity and its efforts to build schools and sponsor children and teachers: "In the Educate A Child program, under the leadership of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, we found a great opportunity for cooperation to support out of school children worldwide".
Under the agreement the two parties will organize joint fund-raising campaigns for relevant projects and activities in six countries as a start: Syria, Gaza in Palestine, Yemen, South Sudan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The two parties seek to enable children in these countries to enroll in schools to complete their basic education. The parties will also organize cultural activities in the six countries and open bank accounts to collect donations for this initiative as well as announcing how donors can make donations in Qatar.
Commenting on the agreement, Marcio Barbosa, Chief Executive Officer of Education Above All, said: “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with Qatar Charity, one of the most successful global impact organizations in the region, and are certain it will result in acceleration in access to educational programs for out of school children in the focus markets. This is fully in line with Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s commitment to expand access to 10 million children by the end of the 2015/16 school year via the Educate A Child program”.
Educational Projects
Qatar Charity places special attention on education in projects and is currently implementing these in dozens of countries across three continents. In the first half of 2014, the organization made approximately 35,241,200 Qatari riyals available for 165 educational projects that included school building, student and teacher sponsorships, training courses, and others.
Access to Education for All
Educate A Child is a global program which Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser launched in 2012 aimed at reducing the number of children worldwide who are denied their right to education.
The initiative was launched during the World Innovation Summit on Education (WISE) that was held in Qatar in November 2012 and was attended by hundreds of decision makers, opinion leaders, practitioners, and education stakeholders across various sectors in more than 100 countries, along with a number of strategic partners of this global initiative.
The program seeks to make real progress in the effort to provide quality primary education to all children of the world, as more than 57 million children across the world remain deprived of their fundamental right to education. The program partners with leading organizations in Qatar and abroad to provide quality education to children suffering from poverty, conflicts, natural disasters, discrimination, or any other problems that prevent them from enrollment.
