UNESCO Office in Doha

UNESCO came to Doha Qatar in 1972 with the mission to help establish the Qatar University which is now a large and successful establishment. In 1981 a project was initiated with the purpose of providing Qatar University with a multi-purpose oceanographic marine research vessel which was handed over to the university in 1983.

Qatar and the other Arab states of the Gulf have accomplished remarkable strides in the fields of education, environment, gender equality, infra-structure, culture, and health. To accelerate such development these states sought technical assistance from the United Nations and its agencies particularly UNESCO. To this end, UNESCO Doha Office was established in 1976 in response to a request submitted by the Arab States of the Gulf and agreed upon by the General Conference of UNESCO held in Paris in 1974. The State of Qatar hosted the office in the capital city Doha. The Office extends UNESCO’s services to seven Member States in the region namely: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The work being carried out at UNESCO Doha’s office in supporting these states with their impressive development is in line with UNESCO’s founding guidelines and principles which aim at creating the conditions for true dialogue, based upon respect for commonly shared values and the dignity of each civilization and culture.UNESCO is actively pursuing the UN Millennium Development Goals, especially those aiming to:  
-halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing countries by 2015;
-achieve universal primary education in all countries by 2015;
-eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005;
-help countries implement a national strategy for sustainable development by 2005 to reverse current trends in the loss of environmental resources by 2015.

Education, science, culture, and communication are the means to achieve an extremely ambitious goal: to build peace in the minds of men.  

After all, one of the essential principals stated in the UNESCO constitution is:   “Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”  

About Doha Office PDF