Doha, 14 December 2021 – During the WISE summit, which took place in Doha from the 7th- 9th December, Education Above All (EAA) demonstrated how working across sectors and in partnership can deliver holistic, quality education to the world’s most marginalised children and drive sustainable change at a global level.

 

Conducting multiple roundtable and plenary sessions that showcased the Foundation’s overarching commitment to education, key EAA highlights included:

• Pledges by the governments of Rwanda, the Gambia, Djibouti and Zanzibar to join the Foundation’s campaign to achieve Zero out of school children (OOSC) at the primary level. These pledges come off the back of the recent achievement by EAA’s Educate A Child programme of enrolling 10 million primary aged children in education, and as the UN officially adopted “Zero OOSC” into its Decade of Action.

• The launch of Qatar Connection, a component of the Qatar Scholarship/EAA programme, by EAA’s Al Fakhoora programme. Qatar Connection is the first-of-its kind initiative to connect students to one another and to Qatar through internships and exchange opportunities with EAA partners Qatar National Library, Generation Amazing, Al Jazeera Media Institute, and the Doha Film Institute.

• EAA’s Education in Action pledge was made during the summit and commits the Foundation to plant one tree for each student enrolled in EAA-supported schools in Doha. The pledge is aligned with Qatar's commitment of planting one million trees before the FIFA World Cup 2022 and is part of the Foundation’s call for the inclusion of climate change in learning curriculums.

• A panel discussion showcased the Foundation’s extensive low-tech, high-accessibility Internet Free Education Resource Bank (IFERB) hosted by EAA’s ID programme, demonstrating how it is using innovation to provide education to Afghan child refugees with a series of modules that are tailor-made to suit the children’s needs and circumstances.

 

“It is wonderful to see the work of all of EAA brought together under one roof. Providing access to high quality education is key to solving the challenges of the future,” said EAA CEO Fahad Al-Sulaiti. “EAA is proud to work with its partners to achieve the goal of ensuring everyone has access to quality education by removing every barrier to a child or a young person’s ability to learn. Only by doing so will we be able to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal on education where, by 2030, an inclusive and equitable quality education is had by all.”

 

In addition, EAA used its sessions to create opportunities for the youth to set the agenda on some of the most important issues of our time. Through its Protect Education In Insecurity and Conflict programme (PEIC), the Foundation coordinated a youth advocacy workshop in which youth advocates for the protection of education designed an advocacy plan for the International Day of Education on the 24th of January, 2022. EAA’s Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) programme also held a session where youth from Uganda, South Sudan and Cameroon set the agenda for the inaugural Global Conference on Youth Inclusion in Peace Processes early next year.

 

“Young people are the leaders of tomorrow. It is imperative that we engage with them as equals and that we equip them with the values, skills and opportunities that pave the way for them to become impactful changemakers and builders of a culture of peace and cooperation,” added Mr. Al Sulaiti.

 

These announcements mark another year of EAA’s extensive work across sectors towards a world where equitable access to quality education sits at the heart of sustainable development, education is protected from all forms of attack, and young people are empowered and engaged.