H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, attended a lecture by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, organised as a part of Education City Speaker Series at Hamad bin Khalifa University.
Doha: António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, has lauded the efforts of H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson Qatar Foundation (QF), to significantly reduce the number of out-of-school children globally.
H H Sheikha Moza plays a vital role in providing education to refugees, he said in Doha yesterday. “I am a great admirer of Qatar Foundation and its fantastic actions in Qatar and across the world. It has been an enormous pleasure to visit,” said Guterres.
“H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser has been an important partner of the United Nations -- when I was United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, she was extremely instrumental in providing education to hundreds of thousands of refugees living in extremely dramatic circumstances. I want to pay tribute to all those who work at Qatar Foundation for their contributions for the well-being of so many people in different parts of the world,” he added.
Guterres on a two-day visit to Qatar, delivered a lecture on the on ‘The Importance of Multilateralism in a Time of Unprecedented Challenge,’ at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Education City.
H E Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice-Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation and Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of HBKU; H E Sheikha Alya bint Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN, officials, diplomats, academics, students and several others were also present during the lecture.
In his lecture, Guterres highlighted on burning global issues such as climate change, conflicts, terrorism and migration. He highlighted the samples of the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration which took place in Marrakech, Morocco and nations agreeing to at the COP 24, to make the Paris climate pact operational in 2020 as attempts of the UN taken to address major global issues.
“Many things are challenging us and we are not giving enough time and preparing ourselves for the challenges,” said Guterres.
“In this context it’s clear that countries cannot do it alone. It is clear we multilateralism and we need to have international corporation to address these questions,” he added.
During a question and answer session students share their views and questions on different issues including the Security Council, conflicts and several other issues.
“Young people have an absolutely crucial role, more than ever, in the evolution of our society, because technology is evolving in such a way that my granddaughters understand it much better than me. The contribution of young people to the drafting of policies and solutions to problems are absolutely essential,” said Guterres.
The lecture was held as part of Education City Speaker Series, a QF initiative which aims to bring together leaders from diverse fields to deliver a series of informative public talks.
