People tend to believe that to be modern you have to disengage from your heritage, but it's not true.
The right to a quality education is, I believe, the perfect path to bridge the gap between different cultures and to reconcile various civilizations. Without such a right, the values of liberty, justice and equality will have no meaning. Ignorance is by far the biggest danger and threat to humankind.
Qatar is giving 2.8% of our GDP to research. This is something again that is a breakthrough, as nobody was even thinking of research as a tool or component for advancement in this part of the world.
Education can also be used as a soft power and as a soft force to transform societies. When I say transform societies it means we can tackle issues in political, social, cultural, economic areas. These are the most important things.
We believe... that by encouraging critical thinking and processing of knowledge we are creating full, well-rounded human beings... that will enable Qatar to build up its society. You cannot build a healthy society without giving your citizens a sense of ownership. Otherwise, they will not share with you the responsibilities.
I have lived with my husband more than I have with my parents... I live beside him, and know his worries, his hopes, and his dreams for his nation. We believe that things happen by design, not in an arbitrary way. And we believe it is our duty to make things happen.
We don't see the global citizen as someone with no identity, but rather someone who has confidence and is proud of his culture and history - and... open to the modern world.
Sixty-six percent is the literacy rate in the Arab world. We have 58 million illiterate among adults in our part of the world.
Education in Emergencies signifies that the right to education is being threatened by natural causes such as tsunamis, but also, unfortunately, by man-made causes.
