On Thursday, November 5th, Forest Whitaker will participate in a panel discussion on the impacts of worldwide conflict on young people’s ability to access education as part of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) taking place in Doha, Qatar from November 3rd–5th.
The panel, titled “Education, Violence and Armed Conflict: From Daunting Challenge to Effective Response” will provide Mr. Whitaker an opportunity to share with the audience the observations he has gathered as UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation on the challenges of providing children and youths with education in the midst of crisis. He will also speak about how the Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative is working in countries around the world to use education as a peacebuilding tool to mitigate conflict.
This session is being organized by Education Above All, a global initiative founded in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar. Education Above All works with global partners to protect the right to universal education and to draw international attention to critical education issues.
The discussion will be moderated by BBC’s Mishal Husain, and Mr. Whitaker will be joined on the panel by Graca Machel, founder of The Elders and former first lady of South Africa; UN Assistant Secretary-General Thomas Gass; UN Assistant Secretary-General Jean Paul Laborde; Elizabeth Decrey Warner, Executive President of Geneva Call; and Kevin Watkins, Executive Director of the United Kingdom’s Overseas Development Institute.
WISE is an annual event held in Doha, Qatar, that brings together education experts, decision-makers, and practitioners from a wide range of countries to share innovations and best practices that can improve worldwide education. The theme of WISE 2015 is “Investing for Impact: Quality Education for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth.” This year’s summit will focus on how global investments in education can lay the foundation for helping the international community meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals agreed in September 2015.
The session will take place on 5th November from 9 to 10.30am (Arabia Time Zone) and will be live streamed on www.wise.org