HH Sheikha Moza Urges the World to Take Collective Action to Protect Education

HH Sheikha Moza Urges the World to Take Collective Action to Protect Education

The fifth International Day to Protect Education from Attack (IDPEA) was marked in Doha yesterday, with a global call to protect schools and ensure that every child has access to a secure learning environment.

The event was led by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, and was attended by world leaders, UN officials, and youth advocates at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

The day serves as a platform for advocacy, highlighting the growing number of attacks on educational institutions, which have risen by 20% over the past year. This year’s IDPEA, organized by the EAA Foundation, focused on the theme "Education in Peril: The Human Cost of War."

In her keynote address, Sheikha Moza called for a renewed global commitment to protecting educational spaces, drawing attention to the destruction of schools and the global failure to safeguard education.

“Education is the vessel that carries children toward a brighter future, but attacks on it destroy that vessel, along with the lives of teachers and students,” said Sheikha Moza.

She continued, “We, the international community, have failed to protect both education and students.”

“We are all too familiar with the politics that shape our world and the unjust ways policies are enforced. We may rationalize what we witness, but we cannot excuse the international community for allowing attacks on education to go unchecked and without consequences,” she added.

Sheikha Moza stressed that such attacks are deliberate, especially in Gaza.

“A year has passed, and students in Gaza are still not returning to school. Some have died as martyrs, others lie in hospital beds with limbs amputated, and many remain trapped in a world of death, with diminishing hopes for peace, justice, and freedom,” she stated.

“We have failed you, children of Gaza. No international law, UN charter, or multilateral agreement has protected you,” she concluded.

The event was attended by several high-profile dignitaries, including Yemen’s Prime Minister H E Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak; Palestine’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Expatriates H E Dr. Varsen Aghabekian; Liberia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sara Beysolow Nyanti; and UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict H E Virginia Gamba, among others.

A poignant performance by 45 students from Gaza, Sudan, and Qatar highlighted the importance of protecting education during crises. The performance featured a song by Fahad Alhajjaji, underscoring the critical need to safeguard learning spaces in times of conflict.

Football commentator Swar Al Dahab also spoke, drawing attention to the destruction in Gaza and Sudan and stressing the urgent need to defend education during war.

During the Gen R: Generation of Resilience in Times of Conflict session, Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza shared firsthand accounts of how conflict impacts education, emphasizing the role of journalism in exposing the realities of life in war zones. Ebrahim Adnan Qdaih, an EAA Foundation beneficiary and nursing student in Gaza, also shared his experience, stating, “All educational facilities were destroyed, leaving us shattered. I was a young man with many dreams, but everything was lost.”

IDPEA was established in 2020, following a call to action by H H Sheikha Moza at the 2019 Social Forum of the Human Rights Council. The UN General Assembly, supported by 62 countries, adopted a resolution initiated by Qatar, declaring September 9 as the International Day to Protect Education from Attack, focusing global attention on the need to safeguard education in conflict zones.