Qatar Foundation Convocation Ceremony 2011

Dear Graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Peace be upon you.

I congratulate all of you on this well-earned success, and for joining those of us building this nation.

Since the beginning of this endeavor, our vision has not focused merely on reaching the Millennium Development Goals. We have never ceased in our mission to promote the value of learning and intelligence, and to provide our youth with the right to quality education.

Today our confidence in the soundness of this auspicious choice has been strengthened further, despite the difficulties and challenges we have faced along the way.

The transformation that the Arab world is undergoing confirms that education is indeed the best path leading to positive change.

Many analysts and journalists have attributed the awakening of Arab youth to the role and use of information technology.

In my opinion, this technology - despite its great importance - is but a tool used by educated and enlightened young people.

But the most important components will always be education, critical thinking and the aspiration of young people to better their lives and improve society itself.

Education is our path to dignity and our route to development. Therefore, the need for us all to defend the right to education with responsibility and commitment is clear, first within our local community, then in the Arab world around us and in the rest of the world.

I believe it is our collective responsibility, not only to our youth in Qatar but abroad as well, to oppose this phenomenon with all our might. And that is the responsibility of Education City - to act, in a humanitarian way, as an incubator for students regardless of their social and cultural origins.

Dear graduates,

On this day, the day we celebrate your graduation, I can see in your faces the thrill of success mixed with the confidence to take on new challenges. You strengthen my belief that the advancement of Qatar must remain our ever-expanding goal.

We have invested in good education, and you are one of its outcomes.

I am happy to announce to you, and to the citizens of this nation, the realization of a project that was announced last year: the establishment of Education City University - a university based on innovation and research services for Qatari society and the region.

Through advanced educational programs, it provides our students with the skills to innovate and boost economic development. It builds those skills through strong cooperation and it drives partnerships to transfer knowledge and mobilize human resources to advance Qatar and the region.

Today we are proud to further unveil this initiative which asserts that the advancement of our youth will always remain our primary goal.

I look to this endeavor - whose goals have already started to be realized - as part of our preparation for the future.

This initiative represents our very real transition from a dependence upon natural resources to a phase focused on building knowledge and capabilities. Human potential is the currency of the future and will yield a new and exciting era of Qatari-led creation and innovation.

Your Highness,

To show our gratitude for what you have achieved for our nation, we would be honored if would you permit us to name this new institution Hamad Bin Khalifa University of Education City.