HBKU event considers need to rebuild higher education in Gaza

Entity: College of Public Policy

Conference participants outside Minaretein Building

Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU) College of Public Policy (CPP) convened international leaders in education, international diplomacy, and development, as well as senior figures from Palestinian academia for the Conference on Rebuilding Higher Education in Gaza. Organized in collaboration with Education Above All, the Islamic University of Gaza, University of Fort Hare, University of Johannesburg, and University of Glasgow, the event builds on the expertise of the CPP’s Professor Sultan Barakat and is a follow up to a previous meeting that took place in Glasgow in December 2024. The conference addressed the urgent need to reconstruct Gaza’s higher education sector in the wake of devastating conflict.

Professor Francisco J. Marmolejo, President of Higher Education, Qatar Foundation, along with Professor Nader Jawad Alnemra, Deputy President of the Islamic University of Gaza; Dr. David Duncan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow; and Professor Sakhela Buhlungu, Vice Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare, welcomed the attendees and underlined the conference’s timeliness and importance.

HE Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz Al Nasser, President, United Nations General Assembly 66th Session, and former UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations, kicked off proceedings with a keynote address that outlined Qatar’s commitment to education both nationally and internationally and helped participants reflect on the global significance of rebuilding academic institutions, especially in times of conflict.

In his opening remarks, Professor Sultan Barakat, CPP, noted: “We are here to affirm a principle: that education is a right, not a privilege; that universities are sacred spaces for knowledge, identity, and hope; and that Palestinian higher education - rooted in struggle, dignity, and history - is central to all forms of reconstruction and development.”

Participants also included distinguished academics from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Leeds, University College London, Imperial College, Edinburgh, Ulster, King’s College, Harvard, York, Toronto, Dublin, Bard College, Oslo, Lille and other institutions from across the world. They gathered in workshops and panel discussions to explore the immediate and long-term needs in rebuilding Gaza’s higher education sector, including how education institutions can be rebuilt and made more resilient, as well as their central role in post-conflict rebuilding throughout Gaza.

A powerful plenary session on the first day highlighted the scale of destruction inflicted on Gaza’s higher education sector. University leaders from Al-Azhar University, Al-Quds Open University, An-Najah University, Al-Aqsa University, Birzeit University, Palestine University, Gaza University, and the Palestinian Ministry of Education shared first-hand accounts of the devastation of the conflict.

The Conference is the latest example of HBKU’s ongoing support for Palestine’s academic sector, which comprises engagement in local and international discussions as well as robust academic research.