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Qatar

Indian magazine praises Al Kawari’s candidacy

Published: 18 Sep 2017 - 11:12 am | Last Updated: 01 Nov 2021 - 06:57 am
File photo of Qatar’s candidate for Unesco’s top position, H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari

File photo of Qatar’s candidate for Unesco’s top position, H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari

The Peninsula

Hailing the credentials of Qatar’s candidate for Unesco’s top position, H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari, Indian magazine ‘Indian Dominion’ has noted that Qatar’s candidature appears to be the strongest candidate.

“According to international media and political observers all over the world, Qatar’s candidature appears to be the strongest candidate. The reason is Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari’s highest credentials. He is a very qualified candidate and has a record of long and successful diplomatic career too. He is a popular figure not only in the Arab world but in Europe and Asia as well,” said Indian Dominion’.

The position of the Unesco Director-General has never been filled by an Arab. Dr Al Kawari has been focusing on Qatar’s efforts in cooperation with the UN to launch the Educate A Child programme that helped in the education of 10 million children around the world, promising that education, particularly in Africa, will receive special attention as the cornerstone of development through cooperation between Unesco and the African Union to achieve the best outcome. 

Recently, Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kawari visited the capital of India and shared his ideas, vision and mission for Unesco with the media. He started with his concerns about the current status of Unesco and his vision after the victory: “Over seven billion inhabitants call Earth home. How many of them are illiterate? How many actually benefit from proper education? Unesco is facing a responsibility of historical proportions. He pointed that it is our duty to massively magnify its engagement towards education.

The Indian publication said that he has been working through his diplomatic ties to encourage countries that haven’t paid their financial dues to the organisation to pay them as well as create attractive Unesco programmes in the fields of education and culture to encourage strategic sponsors and partners. He also proposed a Davos-like conference to discuss means of solving problems and finding proper solutions, adding that he will hold talks with the United States to discuss its responsibilities towards Unesco in terms of achieving the organisation’s goal of global peace. 

Unesco has a significant role in combating terrorism, the Qatari candidate said, noting that military action isn’t enough and Unesco plays a major role in this regard because terrorism can’t be eradicated without overcoming poverty and ignorance, boosting awareness of the importance of education, and spreading multiculturalism. Dr Al Kawari said that Qatar nominated him out of its belief in the role of Unesco in establishing peace as well as the organisation’s interest in human heritage.

Qatar hosted in 2015 the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee and called for establishing a fund to protect human heritage and donated $10m at the time. 

He emphasized that although it is the first time that Qatar aspires to such an important position, he recalled that he does not only represent his country but also the whole Arab world with this candidacy.

“Unesco is going through a very big financial crisis, but this is a political problem. If there are no political solutions, it will be very difficult to solve economic problems,” said the former minister of culture. 

He stressed that he will work to bring back the United States as an active member of the organization and assured that the return of Americans will not only strengthen Unesco, but will help to obtain better tools to face the real threats that exist today like terrorism. 

“We want to fight terrorism and the United States is one of the countries that are at the forefront of this fight,” said Al-Kawari, who said that this fight is not only fought with military means but also with education. 

“If we do not solve the problems of poverty, the problems related to respect for culture, then we will not be able to fight terrorism. Unesco had been setup to implement peace, so we are going to fight terrorism through Unesco with education, “he said.

He considers that an efficient way to fight terrorism is to develop critical thinking through quality education by allowing the youth to have the means to defend themselves against fanatic thoughts and doctrines. 

His vision encompasses also the preservation of the world tangible and intangible cultural heritage that dark forces are trying to destroy. The world heritage is the shared human memory and those harming it are harming our collective cultural heritage.