Qatar

Present in Lucens.

2015: Attended the state consultations on the SSD in Geneva – led by Norway + 2015: Present at the First International Conference on the SSD in Oslo.

August 2016: CAAC Open Debate: “My country also supports the Safe Schools Declaration which was adopted at the Oslo conference last year under the them “Protect education from attack”. We continue to focus on that issue and organized, in cooperation with the Qatari Education Above All Foundation and a number of permanent missions, a high-level event on the margins of the seventieth session of the General Assembly to empower children and promote their inclusion in development efforts. It aims to provide them with skills and knowledge, protect them from exploitation and protect their right to a decent standard of living.”

March 2017: Attended Buenos Aires Conference on Safe Schools.

April 2017: Attended post-conference briefing for missions in New York.

September 2017 UNSC: GCPEA sent a letter to the ambassador in New York asking to raise the issue on attacks and military use, draw attention to the Declaration and the Guidelines during the Open Debate on children and armed conflict.

October 2017: GCPEA met with the expert in the Mission of Qatar in Geneva. Qatar is eager to host a regional workshop in Doha next year and/or the international conference in 2019. Capital can provide logistical and financial support. This will be discussed during the GCPEA steering committee meeting in New York.

March 2018: Following advocacy by GCPEA, support was expressed by Qatar, to references to the Declaration in operative and preambular paragraphs of the Resolution A/HRC/37/L.33.

May 2018: Speaking at the launch of Education Under Attack 2018 in New York, the Deputy Ambassador announced a plan to host a workshop on the Declaration in 2019.

July 2018: Joined Argentina’s joint statement to the UN SC during the open debate on children and armed conflict. Co-sponsored resolution 2427 (2018).Mentioned and welcomed the Safe Schools Declaration during the statement to the SC.

March 2019: attended GCPEA side-event on “Better Protecting Women and Girls from Attacks on Education” in Geneva. Clustered Interactive Dialogue with the SRSG Ms. Virginia Gamba, HRC Geneva:referred to the issue of attacks on/or and military use of schools. Also joined Norway’s joint statement on the Safe Schools Declaration.

March 2019: co-sponsored Education Above All side event “Education in the 2030 Agenda – Leaving no one behind: Children with disabilities, girls, forcibly displaced children and minorities”. During his welcoming remarks, the Ambassador referred to Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC) as a founding member of GCPEA, and the Educate A Child programme, which succeeded in enrolling 10 million children in school through the implementation of more than 65 projects in 50 countries, in partnership with 82 global partners.

May 2019: Participated in the Third International Conference in Palma.

September 2021: co-organised the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.

October 2021: cosponsored UNSRC2601.

April 2022: GCPEA met with Mr. Abdulla Bahzad (Third Secretary) from the PM of Qatar in Geneva on 28 April to discuss common priorities and ways to strengthen collaboration in Geneva. GCPEA shared the outcomes from the Geneva workshop (24 March) to which Qatar was invited. The representative was particularly interested and supportive of the idea to bring a resolution at the HRC to establish a monitoring mechanism on the protection of education, as well as the idea to askthe Special Rapporteur to present a thematic report on this issue to the Council. He said that he had already shared the outcome report with capital and received green light to support the proposed outcomes. We briefed him on the upcoming EuA2022 launch and events, including the one in Geneva the mission is co-sponsoring as part of the Core Group. He was very supportive and confirmed Qatar would participate. He argued that the Core Group on SSD must be more active, particularly in the HRC sessions. He also spoke about the upcoming 09 September and explained that Qatar might wish to organize an event in Geneva. astly, we briefed him on the state-led implementation network and explained how Qatar could participate in the network and its activities.

September 2022: Endorsed the Call to Action on Education in crisis situations (refers to EuA22 data) at the Transforming Education Summit

November 2022: Endorsed the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA) on 18 November during an International Conference hosted by Ireland, the leader and penholder behind the Declaration.

May 2023: On 16 May, Apolline and Michel Anglade (Director Save the Childre Geneva Advocacy Office) met with H.E. Mrs. Hend Abdalrahman AL-MUFTAH, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the PM of Qatar in Geneva. The objective of the meeting was to discuss Qatar’s leading role on protecting education from attack and discuss the idea of Qatar conducting peer-to-peer advocacy with members of the League of Arab States as well as the Gulf Cooperation Council. This idea came from Qatar themselves (Mr. Bazhad, first secretary, had been in touch with Apolline about it a few weeks prior). The meeting was requested to prepare her Excellency for a meeting with the League of Arab states (LAS) countries set to take place on 17 May. This was the last meeting where Qatar acted as chair, and thus could influence the agenda. We provided the Ambassador with background information on engagement and support from these countries and prepared a short briefing for her as supporting material. Following the meeting with the LAS, Qatar received a request from members of the group for GCPEA to reach out directly to them bilaterally and share a formal letter requesting endorsement with supporting documents. We sent the letters on 19 May. Qatar will be conducted direct follow-up with these countries to push for endorsement.

June 2023: On 15 June, Apolline met with Mr. Abdulla Bazhad, Second Secretary at the PM in Geneva to discuss the Internationa Day to Protect Education from Attack event in Geneva, the follow-up with the members of the League of Arab States, and a resolution on protecting education from attack which Qatar would like to introduce at the Human Rights Council in September. On the Int. Day event: it will take place on 18 September at UNOG. It will be a high-level panel discussion (they want to invite Mr. Gordon Brown, SRSG CAAC, ICC Prosecutor), they have secured ministerial participation from their side. The event will be followed by a reception and photo exhibition. We aim to send the save the dates on 22 June. On LAS follow up: Libya, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait have all reached out to Qatar following the LAS meeting during which Qatar Ambassador raised the SSD. Mr. Bahzad is following up with all four and plans on setting up advocacy meetings and inviting me along to push for endorsement. On HRC resolution: Qatar would like to bring a resolution similar to UNSC 2601 (2021) at the HRC. This resolution would adopt a human rights lense. It might request the Special Rapporteur on the right to education to write a thematic report on protecting education from attack. The resolution would be presented at the HRC in September. I advised them to reach out to Norway and the champions and leverage the Core Group, to gauge interest and support for this initiative. I also requested that they share a draft with us once they have more information. GCC: Qatar Ambassador had a meeting with the GCC members to prepare for the 53rd session of the HRC on 15 June. She raised the SSD during the meeting, calling on all GCC members to endorse the Declaration.

April 2024: On 25 April, Apolline and Ilaria met with Abdulla Al-Ali, First Secretary, from the Qatari PM in Geneva, the new focal point for the SSD portfolio and Core Group. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce ourselves and GCPEA to the new delegate, discuss the upcoming international day to protect education from attack event in Geneva, and explore possibilities for peer-to-peer advocacy by Qatar.

May 2024:

• On 22 May, Lisa met with the NY Ambassador – at their request.  
• Ambassador wanted to share concept note for Day of Action in advance of SOTF, likely the Sat before the Summit 

• Slight possibility GCPEA will be a part of the formal program but too early to say 
• Welcome to provide comments/suggestions on concept note (particularly speakers) 
• UNESO and UNICEF will take part and can also represent GCPEA 
• Did not mention Task Team and not sure to what degree her office is engaged? 

• Ambassador recommended we organize a side event at UNGA, the process will open soon. Qatar would co-sponsor, she suggested a good opportunity to work with EAA on accountability. 
• Qatar and Norway are pushing language on protecting education in Chapter 2 but there is no common position by G7 and asks that we advocate for states to support inclusion 
• She shared no new info on UNESCO (SR 2601 or anything) though I asked 
• She had no information that she shared on discussion/focus of Sec Council reform 
• Ambassador very direct in wanting to be co-sponsor for EUA launch 
• Will possibly make suggestions about affected states 
• Not clear if they can offer support for launch, I will follow up with her team