The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) continues to work to ensure that FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar belongs to everyone, said Mead al Emadi, SC Community Engagement Manager.
“As we move into 2019 and look back at 2018, our main motivation continues to be to take along all the communities on the road to 2022. That is the essence of what Qatar 2022 is all about-- to unite all communities and showcase the diversity among us and, more importantly, the commitment and passion within the Qatari communities in all existing natures,” Emadi said. “For me, it is an honour to speak directly to the people who are supporting us in the delivery of the first World Cup in the Arab world. Through all our initiatives, we have reached out to thousands of people, but one of the programmes that personally makes me especially proud is the Accessibility Forum.
During the summer of 2018, the SC took a delegation of Accessibility Forum members to observe and report on the cultural and infrastructural disability services at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. Fifteen representatives participated in the observation trip and documented their experiences in order to increase operational expertise and event readiness in 2022 for both the SC and its partners. “We also continued to reach out to the young generations in Qatar through the Youth Panel, which successfully began its third course having graduated 180 students since 2015. The 2018 class included 54 representatives of 30 different countries from across the world,” Emadi said.
He added, “Our commitment with expatriate residents in Qatar has also continued to grow with a total of 43 countries represented and that enjoy direct access to our experts and relevant information about our plans that is to be spread across their different communities. “One of the SC’s initiatives is also to support local and regional Ramadan tournaments annually to encourage greater participation in sports, to drive positive behaviour within the population and create lasting benefits for the region and its people. In 2018, we sponsored eight tournaments in Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.” “In parallel, we hosted the second Ramadan Tournament workshop to empower local and regional football tournament organisers and other parties to have the knowledge to deliver successful mini football tournaments from the planning to the delivery phase,” he said.
Guest speakers at the workshop attended by 30 participants from different stakeholders included SC Ambassador Mohammed Saadon al Kuwari. Emadi said, “In the first part of 2018, we also launched the Cultural Experience programme, conducting several workshops to bring together the leading organisations within the cultural sector. Our goal with this initiative was to start the work to enhance the fan experience leading to and during the tournament in 2022. “Finally, we were delighted to complete another full and successful programme of Higher Education Info Sessions. The sessions were designed to update and educate the next generation of graduates across Qatar on the plans for Qatar 2022 and its associated legacy projects and opportunities.”
Across eight sessions in Education City and Al Bidda Tower, the programme reached out to over 600 students from Georgetown University, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Qatar University, Northwestern University and the Qatar Leadership Centre.
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