Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber - UNESCO Special Envoy
H.E. Sheikh MBI Al Jaber named UNESCO Special Envoy to represent the Director-General on education, human rights, tolerance, and cultures to build peace and democracy.
On March 18th, 2005 during a ceremony held at the UNESCO offices in Paris, Director-General M. Koïchiro Matsuura officially announced the nomination of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber, founder and CEO of MBI International and patron of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation, as the Director-General 's personal representative for "education, human rights, tolerance, and cultures to build peace and democracy." By virtue of this nomination, MBI Al Jaber will be representing the Director-General in these capacities as UNESCO Special Envoy throughout the world.
Bold and efficient actions
This nomination is the fruition of his many activities in support of Arab culture through his bold and efficient actions at a time when the Arab world is undergoing major changes. Mr Al Jaber is a result-oriented businessman who brings wide-ranging endeavours in support of higher learning to the Arab world, most recently in Iraq, where he is helping to foster the beginnings of democracy.
In 2003 he signed an ambitious protocol with Mr Matsuura to promote educational and curriculum reform and teacher training in order for students from the region to compete better with their counterparts in the world. In addition, Mr Al Jaber and UNESCO are partnering on improving Arabic internet applications as well as the Kitab Fi Jaridah Project, in which a free literary book is periodically inserted inside dozens of Arab newspapers across the region.
An increasingly important role
MBI Al Jaber is playing an increasingly important role in confronting the negative impact of certain aspects of the cultural and educational scene in the Arab world. The necessity and effectiveness of these successful pilot projects have prompted the Director-General of UNESCO to further strengthen additional cooperation between UNESCO and MBI Al Jaber as part of UNESCO's mandate as an international organization paving the way to peace via cooperation and tolerance through education, teaching, culture and communication.