HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser speaking at a high-level roundtable on girls’ education, hosted by the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama. PICTURE: AR Al-Baker /HHOPL

HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of QF, spoke at a high-level roundtable on girls’ education, hosted by the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, on the sidelines of the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) in Doha yesterday.
The session was moderated by Julia Gillard, board chair of the Global Partnership for Education, who gave introductory remarks on the importance of girls’ education. She then gave the floor to Michelle Obama, who spoke of the global education initiative ‘Let Girls Learn’.
HH Sheikha Moza spoke about the Educate A Child programme, which focuses on getting primary aged out-of-school children into education across the world. In the three years since it began, the programme has enrolled 2.1mn children, 49% of which are girls. She also spoke of the specific challenges of ensuring quality and continuity of education in conflict zones.
Following Sheikha Moza’s speech, Gillard invited all the VIP and education experts around the table to discuss their experiences. The participants included: First Lady Silvia Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, founder of the Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Foundation; Mabel van Oranje of the Netherlands, board chair of Girls not Brides; Dr Sakena Yacoobi, 2015 WISE Prize for Education Laureate; Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize from Liberia; and Graca Machel, former first lady of Mozambique and South Africa and founder of Graca Machel Trust.
Sheikha Moza also held a private meeting with First Lady Silvia Bongo Ondimba of Gabon to discuss the work of the first lady’s foundation and explore areas of mutual interest related to education.