Doha, QATAR – Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker participated in a Plenary Session during High Level Strategic Meetings in Doha yesterday for – Educate A Child – global programme launched by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar in November 2012.

The programme aims to significantly reduce the number of children worldwide denied their fundamental right to education. 

Educate A Child is an extension of Sheikha Moza’s mandate as a UNESCO Special Envoy on Basic and Higher Education, a United Nations Millennium Development Goal Advocate and a Steering Committee member of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Global Education First initiative.

As part of the meetings, Qatar Airways affirmed its support during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the programme. The airline pledged to provide support via a comprehensive suite of communications platforms, as well as financial donations collected on board and monetary contributions from the airline. 

During his presentation, Al Baker spoke about the various communication platforms the airline has in reaching a wide global passenger base to inform and showcase the initiative, including the in-flight entertainment system, in-flight magazines, the airline’s web site and social media channels.

In attendance at the high-level meetings and plenary session were delegates from around the world, including government ministers associated with Education, philanthropic and non-profit organisations, and representatives from the private sector among others. 

The Plenary Session was Chaired by Qatar Foundation Endowment executive committee member and special envoy to Educate A Child, Dr. Tidu Maini.Also. Other members of the panel included executives from other organisations that have signed MoUs including: ExxonMobil, Credit Suisse Foundation, and The Abraaj Group.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “The airline is proud to be a purveyor of communication to all of our passengers about the noble Educate A Child program, developed by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser,”

“Our passengers travel the world over, and with our network spanning 126 destinations across six continents, our global reach is perfectly suited to draw attention to the wide-ranging aims of Educate A Child, which is to enable over 60 million out-of-school children to have access to education,” said Al Baker.

Qatar Airways signed a memorandum of understanding with the Educate A Child (EAC) programme to bring quality primary education to millions of out of school children.

The partnership is focused on working together to promote the Educate A Child programme and to collaborate on special projects in key markets of mutual interest.

The memorandum of understanding was signed at a High-level Strategic Meeting in Doha focused on accelerating progress towards attaining the second Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by the end of 2015.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 16 years of operations, currently flying to 126 key destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas, including Chicago, the airline’s newest point introduced on April 10.

Over the next few weeks and months, Qatar Airways will launch scheduled flights to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including Salalah, Oman (May 22); Basra, Iraq (June 3); Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (August 20) and Chengdu, China (September 3) with many more new destinations planned.