Qatari literacy projects showcased at Qatar Foundation's Innovations in Education 3

The conference is being held under the auspices of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, Chair of Qatar Foundation and UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education.

Government ministers and First Ladies from across the region will be in attendance and will listen to leading education experts who will discuss innovative literacy projects from Arab States, including Qatar. These projects are being heralded as best practice with a view to being replicated across the region.

Dr Abdulla bin Ali bin Saud al-Thani, Vice President for Education at Qatar Foundation commented: "The Qatar Foundation is delighted to be hosting this important conference on literacy in Arab States and welcoming education experts from around the globe. As the first in a series of UNESCO regional conferences on global literacy we need to set the benchmark high. As a region we must demonstrate our steadfast commitment to tackle illiteracy within Arab States."

The conference will look at a highly successful ICT Literacy for Women's Empowerment project run by the Supreme Council for ICT Partnership and the Supreme Council for Family Affairs. It will be presented by Dr Mohamed Al-Ansari. 2000 unemployed women benefit from the project every year which teaches ICT skills, as well as providing e-Citizen training to enable them to access social and health services. The women that complete the curriculum receive certification that will assist them in finding employment.

Also taking part in the literacy and ICTs discussion will be Dr Raj Reddy, the Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He was president of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence from 1987 to 89. Dr Reddy served as co-chair of the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) from 1999 to 2001 under Presidents Clinton and Bush.

Director of the Evaluation Institute, at the Supreme Education Council, Adel Al-Sayed will be presenting at the conference and will be exploring how Qatar, given its commitment to building a world-class education system, can assess other new types of literacy, besides reading literacy, such as information and communication technology skills.

Mr Rashid Al-Naimi, will also present at the conference, in a session on literacy in countries affected by conflict or emergencies. He is the Vice President of Qatar Foundation for Education Science and Community Development and sits on the board of Reach Out to Asia (ROTA). ROTA have been active in equipping 40 schools in Lebanon effected by last year's bombing. ROTA have also launched a fund-raising campaign Atfalouna - Our Children to raise funds for children in Lebanon and Palestine.

Al Jazeera will take part in the conference. Wadah Khanfar, Director-General of the Al Jazeera Network, will moderate a discussion on media literacy. Richard Gizbert, from Al Jazeera English, will be on the panel. He has had a long and eminent career as a foreign correspondent covering many parts of the globe and has extensive experience in the Middle East. Richard Gizbert's presentation will consider how the growth of media literacy will impact upon the Arab region

Prof Richard Wilkins, the Managing Director of the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development, will undertake the role of moderator for another session looking at mother-child literacy.

Ms. Sabah Al Haidous, will speak at the conference. Ms. Al Haidous has made many contributions to Qatar, most notably as Principle for Al-Bayan Educational Complex. Ms. Haidous has been appointed as Director of the Education Institute at the Supreme Education Council since 2004.

The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition "Creating literate environments".