Literacy in Arab States: UNESCO Conference in Qatar

Well now, this is exciting. UNESCO has teamed with Qatar Foundation to present a conference on Literacy Challenges in the Arab States. The goals of the conference were apparently in line with the United Nations Literacy Decade, and its LIFE (Literacy Initiative For Empowerment) programme. The conference was this past week, in Doha, hosted by Qatar Foundation. Details of the conference can be found here.

I think this is particularly interesting because, as many of you already know, I used to work at Qatar Foundation, in their international K-12 school, Qatar Academy. I spent three years in Doha, and so I feel that I know a bit or two about Qatar Foundation. While the Foundation has some very intellectual pursuits and many good people working hard to further them, at times QF has very lofty goals, which it fails to reach.

I can't help but wonder how authentic QF's involvement is in this UNESCO programme. I'm hoping someone who was at the conference can change my mind, though. I really would love to see some forward-thinking literacy programmes develop within the Arab region. I know there are several that are on-the-go, but are they real? Are they authentic? Grounded in research? And most importantly: do they have the support of the people at the top?

Related Links:

• Fact sheet on the conference
• UNESCO's Literacy Portal
• UN Literacy Decade
• Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE)