Asa Lindestam, First Deputy Speaker of Swedish Parliament, speaking to The Peninsula. Pic: Salim Matramkot/the peninsula
Doha: Asa Lindestam, First Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) has praised the role of ‘Education Above All’ in promoting education around the world.
Education Above All (EAA) is a foundation founded in 2012 by H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. Its aim is to build a global movement that contributes to human, social and economic development through the provision of quality education.
“I really appreciate what Qatar is doing from Education Above All. I think it is really great; they are in different countries of the world even in Djibouti,” Lindestam said while talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the 14 Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), hosted by Qatar last week in Doha.
The First Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag, who has served as principal of a school in Sweden, keeps education on the top priority as a lawmaker. She also visited Education City where she was briefed about Qatar Foundation, Education Above All and QF partner foreign universities.
Hailing EAA, the Swedish lawmaker said: “They are everywhere. I hope in future we can also do something together.” Terming Education City as ‘absolutely fantastic’, Lindestam said that she had visited Georgetown University in Qatar and had useful discussions with its faculty.
On Qatar-Sweden ties, she expressed her hope that they would grow more in coming times.
On the IPU Assembly, Lindestam said it was very important for a parliamentarian to interact with other lawmakers. “Big questions are dealt in the Assembly.”
She said that in her meetings with the Qatari ministers and members of the Shura Council, she had talked on the subjects which were very important for Sweden like education, workers’ rights etc.
Asa Lindestam said that in a meeting with H E the Minister of Administrative Development, Labour and Social Affairs, the Swedish parliamentary delegation had asked many questions about the steps Qatar had taken for the welfare of migrant workers to get a firsthand knowledge on the subject. “It was a good meeting. In Sweden, we are always eager to take care of human rights.”
Asa Lindestam said she would like to go through some figures so that both the countries could share their experiences and expertise with each other to discuss how they could coordinate in finding the best possible way to reduce work-related accidents.
The Swedish delegation also visited the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy. “We wanted to learn everything about what is happening in Qatar. Though we have an excellent Ambassador here who has shared with us a lot of information but it has its own significance to see with your own eyes, put your own questions.”
About recently inaugurated National Museum of Qatar, Lindestam said that it was great place to visit. “I visited the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) and the National Museum of Qatar. It was a great experience visiting NMoQ. For children the NMoQ has a lot of attractions in particular. They can see, feel, smell and learn a lot.”
