HH Sheikha Moza visits education projects in Gaza

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser on Tuesday accompanied His Highness the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani on an historic visit to the blockaded Palestinian territory.

Her Highness, who is also the UNESCO Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s MDG Global Advocate for Education, visited a series of pioneering education projects in the Gaza Strip that are opening up learning opportunities to children and students in some of the world’s most challenging political and economic circumstances.

Sheikha Moza said she had been inspired and moved by the warm welcome Their Highnesses received in Gaza, and by the value that the children and teaching staff in the projects she visited, placed on education:

“Today I have witnessed for myself some of the inspirational steps being taken to enable young people to benefit from the basic human right of a full, high-quality education”, Her Highness said.

“Education is under attack wherever we look. There are some 61 million children across the world who do not have access to basic primary education, 28 million of whom live in conflict zones. In Gaza, some 40,000 children are unable to attend school due to the continuing blockade that restricts free movement and delivery of educational materials. Projects such as those supported by Al Fakhoora here give young people hope, opportunity, and the chance to break out of the vicious cycle of disadvantage.”

Her Highness visited three projects supported by Al Fakhoora, a campaign she launched in 2009 to support education in the wake of the bombardment of Gaza. These were:

1. The Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) was the first reconstruction project to be completed through a partnership between Al Fakhoora, Qatar Red Crescent and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). IUG now has two new floors for the Faculty of Medicine and Sciences, as well as state of the art laboratory equipment. The University had suffered structural damage to many of its buildings during the 22 day war in 2009. Their Highnesses were both awarded honorary degrees at a packed university ceremony, accompanied by Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his wife Amal Haniyeh.

2. Atfaluna Society, which is dedicated to educating, integrating and empowering deaf children. In collaboration with Al Fakhoora, Qatar Red Crescent, and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the society has provided hearing screening tests to 12,000 young children, and provided hearing aid devices and support services to 420 children with hearing problems and their families. Her Highness visited the society’s facilities and spoke with students.

3. Dynamic Futures, which is a unique scholarship and empowerment programme that trains talented students in Gaza to become future leaders. The programme is currently providing over 300 full undergraduate scholarships for students in Gaza and a further 10 international masters scholarships. Over the next ten years, Al Fakhoora will commit to providing an additional 900 scholarships to help students pursue higher education both in Gaza and internationally. Al Fakhoora recently opened its official headquarters in Gaza, where Her Highness met a number of the Dynamic Futures students. The headquarters facilities provide students with the creative space to organise activities locally and with university students in the US and UK.

HH Sheikha Moza recently returned from the UN General Assembly week in New York, where she took a prominent role in the launch of the UN Secretary General’s new global education initiative Education First. Her Highness, who is a member of the Education First steering group, also launched, through her EducationAbove All initiative, a ground-breaking handbook that will be a powerful instrument of justice for those investigating and prosecuting violations against education in conflict zones.