UNESCO Executive Board chairperson praises Qatar’s role in protecting education during conflict

Nasser bin Hamad Al Hinzab, Chairperson of UNESCO’s Executive Board and Qatar’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, highlights Qatar’s advocacy to safeguard education from attack.Nasser bin Hamad Al Hinzab, Chairperson of UNESCO’s Executive Board and Qatar’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO, praised Qatar for driving international attention to protecting education in conflict, speaking in Paris on 9 September, the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.This year’s observance was held under the theme “Can Education Survive Attacks? Human Societies’ Resilience,” attended by UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany, ministers and member-state representatives.Al Hinzab added that the day exists because Qatar pushed the UN General Assembly to adopt it, and that it has since become a fixture on the international agenda, rallying increased attention and action globally.He pointed back to 2022, when UNESCO marked the day together with Qatar and the Education Above All Foundation, with the participation of Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.That advocacy took institutional shape over the following years, Al Hinzab said, adding that safeguarding education means moving past commitments to practical measures, including keeping learners and teachers safe and keeping classrooms running, even through crises and conflict.In 2024, UNESCO’s Executive Board called for a preventive action plan, then renewed the request later that year, asking UNESCO to consult member states while drafting it. The plan cleared the Board this past April, giving the organisation what he called a comprehensive framework for supporting countries before, during and after a crisis, built around prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.Al Hinzab credited the Director-General and UNESCO’s secretariat for pushing the plan through, calling its adoption a major achievement and a strong foundation for what comes next.Protecting education, he said, can’t wait until after an attack; it has to come first, through identifying risk, building preparedness, supporting education systems, and keeping learning going under the hardest conditions. Implementing the plan, he added, will take sustained political will, partnerships, and resources. Al Hinzab, on behalf of the Executive Board, renewed the commitment to the plan and to keeping education protection embedded in UNESCO’s crisis and conflict work.He concluded by stressing that the true benchmark for international efforts is ensuring learners and teachers are safe and can continue their progress in education and that education remains a source of hope when crises strike.