Doha: Hosting an Olympic Games in Qatar, and bringing the global sporting showcase to the Middle East for the first time, would create a social legacy that extends beyond Qatar and across the region and the world, said HE Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, Vice Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF).
According to Qatar News Agency, speaking at the Olympism365 Summit: Sport for a Better World, HE Sheikha Hind, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Education Commission, outlined how Qatar is strengthening its position as a global hub of sports following its staging of the FIFA World Cup in 2022, while cultivating an inclusive, accessible sporting culture across the nation, the region, and beyond.
In a high-level session exploring the role of sports as an enabler of sustainable development, Her Excellency spotlighted the Circle In project, launched by Qatar Foundation, Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to nurture more equitable, inclusive and educated communities across Asia and the Middle East and North Africa region, through sport. Part of the IOC's Olympism365 strategy to strengthen the role of sports and Olympism in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in its initial phase Circle In will support sport-for-good projects in seven countries, with a focus on women and girls, people with disabilities, and people from marginalized backgrounds.
HE Sheikha Hind told an audience including members of the Olympic movement and representatives of UN agencies and development organizations that, just as Circle In is harnessing the power of sports to unify, connect, and create opportunities, so Qatar wants to do the same as an Olympic host. "It's no secret that Qatar is going for the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games," she said. "For me, as a person who is leading a foundation focused on education, and who has seen the legacy we were able to create in one sport through hosting the FIFA World Cup, it gives me chills to think about what can be created through all the different Olympic sports."
Circle In, the name of which stems from sports teams coming together in a huddle to symbolize unity and purpose, will provide accessible, safe, gender-inclusive, and sustainable community sports programs, and capacity-building pathways, in the countries where it initially operates. Its initial goal is to benefit up to 50,000 children and youth in these countries, and train up to 5,000 coaches, teachers, and instructors to promote equality, inclusion, and education through sports.
"I'm very proud of this partnership," Her Excellency stated, "because we're taking our expertise and learning in socioeconomic development through sports to different countries and finding local partners who can support our endeavors there."
HE Sheikha Hind also explained how Qatar's sporting ethos, from the world-class events it hosts to the programs and pathways it provides for everyone to embrace, enjoy, and excel in sports, is built on gaining knowledge and ideas from an international outlook, and adapting this to fit the culture and values of the nation and region. "When my country hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2022, the safest, most family-friendly, and most inclusive World Cup in history, I was very proud that we stuck to our values," she said.
For his part, Acting CEO of Education Above All Foundation, Mohamed Al Kubaisi said: "Circle In is more than a sport-for-good initiative, it is a powerful extension of Education Above All Foundation's mission to ensure that every young person, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, has access to inclusive education and opportunities for personal growth." Through the Circle In collaboration, EAA Foundation is bringing its global expertise in education access, inclusion, and youth empowerment to ensure that the initiative not only promotes sport for development, but also drives learning outcomes and social inclusion for vulnerable groups.