Taking Part in the Healthy City Journey

Qatar Foundation's Education City was recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Healthy Education City, joining the global Healthy City network alongside Al-Rayyan and Doha Municipalities, which received their Healthy City Status in a ceremony that took place in February in Msheireb Downtown Doha.

To earn a Healthy City status, a city must demonstrate that it meets a set of WHO criteria and submit a city profile that provides a timely account of the health indicators in the city being examined, which is then evaluated and verified through a site visit by delegates from the WHO prior to confirming accreditation. Throughout the accreditation process, we engaged with the WHO and Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to support the country’s interest in obtaining WHO Healthy City accreditation for Education City and Al Rayyan Municipality. As focal points for the project, we convened stakeholders across Qatar Foundation (QF), collected relevant data, and ensured efforts were represented as part of QF’s submission to the WHO. ?

As part of the evaluation process of AL-Rayyan Municipality, delegates from WHO Regional Office, and MoPH visited Education City, where they met with various members of QF, and learned about the programs. Selecting Education City as an implementation site for AL-Rayyan Municipality provided an opportunity to showcase some of the programs and initiatives across the QF portfolio and generate dialogue around the role that QF plays in supporting the health and wellbeing of the community. Education City brings together a vibrant ecosystem of schools, universities, research institutes and health and community centers. Such an environment enables Education City to support a multidisciplinary approach to strategic issues, including building healthy and sustainable societies, where health and wellbeing are prioritized through educational programs, awareness initiatives and other offerings.?

Health promotion and ensuring the wellbeing of our society requires a cross-sectoral and collaborative approach, which is exemplified in the multiple innovative and first of kind programs that have been initially piloted at QF and were later scaled up to make an impact nationally. One such example is the Healthy Canteens program in QF schools, part of Sahtak Awalan, Your Health First, a Weill Cornell university initiative and was later expanded across Qatar schools. Another program by Community Development is The Ability Friendly Program, which is designed for people with specific needs to participate in various sporting activities, such as swimming and football, demonstrating an inclusive approach to the promotion of active lifestyles.

?

The recognition of Education City came through a collaborative effort across the QF ecosystem that supported the initiative despite the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

?

Working with the WHO and MoPH on the Healthy City Program facilitated the development of a great relationship between the three entities. The Healthy City approach is not simply health-focused; rather, it integrates multi-disciplinary action across various sectors. This establishes the ground for continuous engagement and collaboration beyond health to include elements of sustainability, wellbeing, and community engagement, recognizing the complexity of the reality we are living in, where many environmental and socioeconomic factors can impact the health of an individual and the community.

Receiving a Healthy City accreditation for Al-Rayyan and Doha Municipalities and a "Healthy Education City' status for QF's Education City is a great milestone. This is a prestigious recognition as both municipalities are the first to be accredited as Healthy Cities in Qatar and being part of the journey has been an honor, and an extremely rewarding process for us.

The accreditation places Qatar on the global Healthy City Network map and affirms Qatar’s commitment to continuously improve the health and wellbeing of its people by creating the physical and social environments needed, in line with the broader ambitions of the Qatar National Vision 2030 to advance human, social and economic development. At a municipality level, this creates opportunities for collaborations through the exchange of ideas and expertise, and co-creation of development programs to address health-related challenges which can inform and support policy makers at a national level.

Mashail Mehanna Al-Naimi is a Head of Programs at the Policy Hub at the CEO's Office at Qatar Foundation (QF). Prior to joining the CEO's Office, Mashail worked on strategy development projects engaging with national stakeholders on the planning, monitoring and evaluation of national strategies. She worked previously as a Research Assistant at Rand-Qatar Policy Institute as a fresh graduate from the inaugurating class of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar in 2009. Mashail was honored by His Highness Sheik Tamim Al-Thani during the Education Excellence Day and was awarded a Platinum Medal. Mashail holds a master's degree from University College London majoring in Strategic Management of Projects and graduated with Distinction.

Fahad Ali Al-Musalmani joined Qatar Foundation (QF)’s Policy Hub at the CEO office in 2019 as a Policy Development Associate. Prior to joining QF, Fahad worked as Economics Researcher in the Governor’s Office of the Qatar Central Bank. He graduated from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, majoring in International Economics, and was part of the International Economics Honor Society (Omicron, Delta, Epsilon).