The conference "Literacy in the Arab States: Building Partnerships and Promoting Innovative approaches", will form part of both the UNESCO Regional Conferences in Support of Global Literacy and the Qatar Foundation's Innovations in Education Series. It is being held under the auspices of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, who in her role as Chair of Qatar Foundation and UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, will make the opening address.
Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned stated, "Literacy is the very heart of a culture of quality and equality, for when people gain the power to decode their world they gain the power to affect changes to it. Literacy oxygenates families, schools, civil society, and all types of institutions and businesses. This is why when we speak of genuine reform in our region and the path to peace, we must keep literacy at the very core of this agenda".
The conference will seek ways to reduce illiteracy in the Arab States, where approximately 58 million adults are illiterate, out of which 66 percent are women, and there is a notable disparity of literacy rates between countries.
Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, Dr Musa Bin Jaafar Bin Hassan, President of UNESCO General Conference and Permanent Delegate of the Sultanate of Oman to UNESCO, and Amr Moussa, President of the Arab League will be present at the conference to give keynote addresses. Laura Bush, First Lady of the United States of America, will make a video address.
With this conference Qatar Foundation and UNESCO hope to place literacy on the agenda of national governments and international partners, and to assist countries, in addressing their literacy challenges, thereby contributing to sustainable human development and poverty reduction. It will present, disseminate and discuss innovative and effective literacy practices from the region through a series of panel and roundtable discussions. The issues to be addressed, by experts from across the region, include media literacy, mother-child intergenerational learning, and literacy in crisis and post-conflict situations.
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Qatar Foundation and UNESCO unite to tackle literacy challenges in the Arab States
- Qatar: Tuesday, February 27 - 2007 at 13:54
- PRESS RELEASE
UNESCO and Qatar Foundation will be hosting the first of UNESCO's Regional Conferences in Support of Global Literacy at the Four Seasons Hotel, Doha from 12th -14th March.
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Notes and media contacts
For registration information, please see below:Media must be registered to attend this conference; there will be no admittance to the venue without prior registration. The opening press conference will take place on the afternoon of 12 March. Please register by contacting:
Hanan Al-Lakkis
Media Manager
Hill & Knowlton
Tel: +974 413 1260
Kristina Backlund
Account Executive
Hill & Knowlton
Tel: +974 413 1260
Once media have registered they will receive updates as the conference draws closer.
About Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development
Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, Qatar Foundation is a private, non-profit organization committed to the principle that a nation's greatest natural resource is its people.
The headquarters of Qatar Foundation are located within its flagship project, Education City, an eight million square-meter campus which hosts numerous progressive learning institutions and centers of research, including branch campuses of five of the world's leading universities, plus a cutting-edge research and development center. Qatar Foundation also works to enhance the quality of life in Qatar by investing in community health and development.
About UNESCO
UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. Its stated goal is to build peace in the minds of men through education, social and natural science, culture and communication. UNESCO is working to create the conditions for genuine dialogue based upon respect and shared values, and the dignity of each civilization and culture. The world urgently requires global visions of sustainable development based upon observance of human rights, mutual respect and the alleviation of poverty, all of which lie at the heart of UNESCO's mission and activities.
UNESCO functions as a laboratory of ideas and a standard setter to forge universal agreements on emerging ethical issues. The Organization serves as a clearinghouse for the dissemination and sharing of information and knowledge, while helping Member States to build their human and institutional capacities in diverse fields. UNESCO promotes international co-operation in 191 Member States in its fields of competence.
For more information please visit: www.unesco.org
Posted by Lara Lynn Golden, News EditorTuesday, February 27 - 2007 at 13:54 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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This article was updated on Sat Mar 10 2007.
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