Dr Saif Al Hajari (left) and Dr Hamed Al Hammami at a press conference at the Qatar Foundation yesterday.

DOHA: The second Innovations in Education symposium being hosted by the Qatar Foundation from April 30 to May 2, will discuss issues related with the Education for All (EFA) movement initiated by Unesco in 1999.

H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation will deliver the opening speech at the symposium followed by Unesco director general Kochiro Matsuura. The three-day event titled "technology, empowerment and education" will take place at the Four Seasons Hotel.

In a press conference held at the Qatar Foundation headquarters yesterday, Dr Saif Al Hajari, its vice chairperson and Dr Hamed Al Hammami, director of the Unesco regional office in Doha outlined the goals of the symposium, which is the second of its kind hosted by the Qatar Foundation.

Hammami said, the symposium would contribute to the theoretical concepts associated with EFL. He said the Unesco initiative aims to empower all the people in the world through education by the year 2015. However, only 42 countries in the world, most of which are from the developed world have so far achieved the goals set by the movement.

He noted that the GCC countries, including Qatar had gone a long way in achieving gender equality in education. The male-female ratio in educational institutions is almost the same and in some Gulf countries, females are in fact dominating, he added.

The 2005 EFA Global Monitoring Report estimates that an additional $5.6 billion in annual resources are needed just to achieve universal primary education and gender parity in schooling. As a response, the Fund for Asia was set up to support numerous relief efforts on the Asian continent, including the Arab states and states of the Asian and Pacific regions.

Sheikha Mozah was named Unesco Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education in appreciation of her outstanding commitment to the promotion of education in Qatar.

Hajari added that the QF would continue to hold the symposium in the coming years under different titles.

The opening session on April 30 will be followed by interactive workshops on May 1 and May 2 with two key note speeches. Dr Raj Reddy, the Mozah bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh will speak on the first day on "empowerment of masses through education and capacity building." On the second day, Dr Benjamin Barber, professor of civil society and a director of the Democratic Collaborative at the New York office will speak on "how democratic the internet is."

Moderators include Baroness Emma Nicholson, Harriet Fulbright, Dr Mir Asghar Hussain, Khawla Shaheen and Dr Sheikha Al Misnad.