Doha, November 03, 2026 : The Fifth UNESCO Conference on Higher Education in the Arab States began in Doha on Monday, bringing together academics, policymakers and representatives of regional and international institutions to discuss the future of higher education across the Arab region.
The two-day event, held under the theme “The New Learning Landscape in Higher Education in the Arab Region,” is organized by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE), in collaboration with UNESCO and the Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science.
The opening session was attended by HE Minister of Education and Higher Education Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater, HE Chairperson of the UNESCO Executive Board and Qatar's Permanent Representative to UNESCO Dr. Nasser bin Hamad Al Hinzab, and HE Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen in Doha Salah Khaled, alongside academics, experts and university representatives.
In her opening remarks, Al Khater emphasized the need for stronger cooperation among Arab universities to address shared challenges, including maintaining access to education in conflict-affected areas, adapting to artificial intelligence (AI), and strengthening the Arabic language's role in knowledge production.
She highlighted progress made by Arab universities over the past two decades in expanding access to higher education, developing academic and research institutions, and improving gender representation. Women now make up 52 percent of undergraduate students and 57 percent of master's students across the region. Their share of academic positions has also increased from 32 percent in 2000 to 44 percent.
However, she cautioned that significant disparities remain among universities, with institutions facing funding shortages, difficulties retaining talent and disruptions to education in several countries, particularly Palestine, Sudan, Yemen and Syria.
Citing UNESCO estimates, the Minister said that 95 percent of university campuses in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged, including 22 universities that were completely destroyed. In Sudan, 124 universities and technical institutions have also sustained destruction or damage.
Al Khater described protecting the region's scientific and knowledge resources as a shared Arab responsibility, calling for support to help affected students continue their education, assist researchers and establish partnerships that safeguard academic and research activities.
Addressing technological developments, she said AI is transforming universities' core functions, including knowledge production, student assessment and the skills required of graduates. She cited a UNESCO survey showing that only 19 percent of the higher education institutions surveyed had adopted formal AI policies.
She urged universities across the Arab region to contribute to developing governance frameworks for AI and updating assessment approaches to promote analytical thinking, critical reasoning, creativity and genuine learning.
The Minister also stressed the importance of strengthening Arabic representation in emerging technologies, highlighting Fanar, an Arabic AI model developed by the Qatar Computing Research Institute at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She encouraged academic institutions to adopt and contribute to the development of Arabic language models as a collaborative Arab initiative.
Al Khater further noted that the revised Arab Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Certificates and Diplomas in Higher Education entered into force last April after being ratified by five countries, including Qatar. She announced that Doha will host the first meeting of the convention's regional committee and called on other Arab countries to join.
She added that achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4, which focuses on inclusive and equitable quality education, requires protecting the educational rights of students affected by crises, improving mutual recognition of academic qualifications and expanding opportunities for students and researchers to move between Arab countries.
Concluding her remarks, Al Khater said the conference discussions would help shape shared Arab priorities for the post-2030 period, with a focus on protecting, producing and expanding access to knowledge.
She stressed that the aim was not to make Arab universities identical, but to strengthen cooperation and complementarity among them, creating wider opportunities for students and researchers across the region.
Source: QNA
