HH Sheikha Moza meets Mayor of London

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, met with the Mayor of London Mr Boris Johnson and Minister of Culture, Mr. Ed Vaizey in City Hall in London today to discuss Qatar and the UK’s mutual interest in developing areas of collaboration in science, technology and education. During the meeting Her Highness shared the importance of promoting Arabic language, culture and civilization and recognized the Mayor’s serious interest in the pursuit of education and research initiatives in the Arabic language as part of the Qatar-UK Year of Culture. 

The meeting marks the latest in a number of initiatives planned during the Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture. Afterwards Sheikha Moza, the Mayor of London, and the Minister of Culture addressed a distinguished audience gathered at City Hall to witness two Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) being signed by Qatar Foundation with leading organisations and departments in the UK. 

The first MOU was signed between Qatar Foundation; the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; the UK Higher Education International Unit and the British Council in order to establish a High-Level Bilateral Forum focusing on research and education. The four themes will be pursued in more detail: Education, Research and Development, Innovation Capacity, and Social and Cultural Development. 

Dr Saoud, the President Qatar Foundation said, “There is a desire to develop the creative potential of young people as well as to support their interests in a wide range of fields. This is at the very heart of Qatar Foundation’s mission and by working with leading UK institutions to encourage greater cooperation in arts and culture, our mission can be further advanced.” The second MOU was signed to support the teaching and learning of Arabic language and culture across UK schools. Dr Saoud stressed that, “Qatar Foundation, along with the British Council and the Mayor of London, is laying the foundations of this project to significantly increase the number of students learning Arabic, increase the number of those teaching Arabic, and improve understanding of the Arab world across the UK. This is an important asset to celebrate the Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture.” 

Qatar Foundation supports a large number of collaborative projects in collaboration with UK institutions and universities, which also serve Qatar’s needs in developing human capacity and earning recognition as an important generator of knowledge across the world. The latest was last week with the inauguration of University College London Qatar. Dr Saoud also mentioned our long strategic partnership with Imperial College London in research, robotic surgery, Biobank, and the Qatar Cardiovascular Research Center. 

A landmark project with the British Library which will digitize over 500,000 pages of historical material relating to the Gulf region from the India Office Records and medieval Arabic manuscripts digitised and made accessible online for the first time.

Yesterday, an event held at Clarence House in the UK marked the fourth meeting of the Mosaic International Leadership Programme. Mosaic was founded in 2007 by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to create opportunities for young people of all backgrounds who are growing up in disadvantaged communities.

Dr Saoud, in the presence of His Royal Highness addressed outstanding young Muslim leaders on behalf of Her Highness alongside His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales calling upon 80 inspiring Muslim participants to find innovative solutions to the world’s interconnected problems by celebrating diversity and embracing universal human values. Dr Fathy added that, “Technology has broken down boundaries and brought us all closer together. Today, we have a unique opportunity to shape this open world. Each of us must decide how we live together. How we define ourselves and others. We can retrench to narrow definitions of identity and labels, or we can seek out the global values and principles that we all share as human beings.”

Prince Charles thanked Her Highness Shiekha Moza bint Nasser and Qatar Foundation for their continued support as an outcome of the MOU that was signed in June with the Prince of Wales Foundation. 

The Qatar UK 2013 Year of Culture will see several more activities held in the coming months to further develop and build upon Qatar Foundation’s relationship with UK entities. In November, a series of insightful UK-based lectures will be presented by scholars and senior researchers at Education City, who will discuss engaging topics that highlight advancements in the areas of computing, energy, environment, healthcare, medicine, architecture and urban planning.