By Mohammed Osman

DOHA: H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari the former minister of culture heritage and arts yesterday officially announced his candidacy for the position of the Director-General of Unesco as Qatar’s nominee.

Al Kuwari who is the Cultural Adviser to Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani announced his nomination at an event held at the Doha Sheraton attended by ambassadors diplomats and media personalities. “I am extremely excited to have the privilege of meeting you at this historic moment during which I am submitting my candidacy for the Director-General of Unesco” said Dr Al Kuwari in his speech.

“Today I stand before you and address you as a candidate for Unesco and proudly offer a reminder that I come from this honourable land where I grew up rooted in its magnificent civilization” he added.

A diplomat from an Arab country overseeing the stewardship of this organisation for the first time in history represents a chance for the people of the Arab-Islamic world in particular and the developing countries in general to play a role in its future perceptions said Al Kuwari.

“It is a unique opportunity for advanced countries and the Unesco to confirm the spirit of mutual cooperation and human unity thus leading to a stronger formation of a bridge between Arab civilizations and other civilizations of the world” he added.

On the sidelines of the event he said: “I proudly and with feeling of responsibility accept this nomination and I hope Allah help me take this responsibility because Unesco is one of the important organisations serving common human objectives such as education science and culture.”

He added: “My nomination for this post reflects the role of Qatar at world level. And Qatar is keen to play an effective role in the world by introducing experiences and capabilities of its citizens to serve the humanity not only their country or the Arab world.”

“Until now I am the only candidate from the Arab and Islamic world not only for the GCC states” Dr Al Kuwari said answering a question whether he is the only Arab candidate for the post. “I am aware of the responsibilities and I will do my best to be at the level of the task and my priority is Unesco which has noble objectives which are related to education science and culture. These are areas I worked in my whole life and I will focus my efforts to achieve their objectives” he added.

He said that in a meeting held around two months ago in Oman by the ministers of culture of Islamic states that there was a decision supporting his nomination for this post.

“So I can say all indications shows that I am the only Arab-Islamic candidate and the situation will become more clear within the coming days” said Al Kuwari. “The nomination process started before a year ago and I am confident that I am not only the candidate of the GCC and Arab states but also of the Arab- Islamic states for this position” he said.

Al Kuwari started his diplomatic career in 1972 and represented Qatar as Qatari ambassador in several Arab European countries and the US for around 20 years. In 1992 he was appointed as Qatar’s Minister of Information and Culture and Minister of Culture Art and Heritage from 2008 to 2016. He has several international awards to his credit and authored several books such as: Dialectics of Conflicts and Settlements The Deficient Knowledge Vision Global Majlis and Majlis Mondial. The Peninsula