The Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Hassan Al Thawadi (right), during the Education City Speaker Series held at Qatar National Library yesterday. Pic: Baher Amin/The Peninsula
Secretary-General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) Hassan Al Thawadi has said that the criticism on worker welfare in Qatar has died down.
Speaking at a session under Education City Speakers Series held at Qatar National Library yesterday, he said that many reforms had been undertaken as a moral obligation of Qatar, as workers conditions have been improved and the sponsorship system has been completely abolished, and these reforms will continue.
“Qatar was the first country to set a minimum wage for workers in the region, while many countries set a minimum wage according to special agreements for specific nationalities.”
Al Thawadi further said: “We also need to identify the mistakes we have made in the past and look at how we avoid them in the future. At the SC, we look at ourselves as an experiment to see what works and then extend it nationwide.
If you implement something without first testing it, the consequences can be significant and can even harm those it is supposed to benefit.”
Regarding misconceptions of some people against Qatar, he said that everyone who visited Qatar from athletes, sports teams and visitors goes with a good impression about Qatar, and they also admired the Qatari culture, so we see them taking memorial photos in Souq Waqif and many others places, and their impression in general is a good.
For the importance of using technology in the World Cup projects, he said: “Data protection is vital for us. As we engage with technology companies, we are also working with experts to look at how we can ensure we safeguard the privacy of individuals and ensure we don’t just step into the world of technology to create a successful model for the World Cup, and then find it has serious repercussions beyond.”
Al Thawadi further said that organising the World Cup in Middle East is important stating, “Unfortunately, our region suffers from over-expenditure in the sporting sphere. All countries within the region, even those with limited resources, pay unbelievable amounts of money into sport, whether it’s infrastructure, on players, on hosting teams. But the payback from the sporting industry into the economy, for job creation or contributing to GDP, is minimal.”
“At this World Cup, we’re trying to create opportunities for the people of the region and elevate the recognition of the sporting industry and how it can contribute to industry creation, job creation, and innovation,” he added.
Speaking about importance of hosting the World Cup, Al Thawadi said: “Football is a lighthouse and a beacon. People can gravitate towards it, and it can impact people’s lives. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not just a football tournament for 28 teams. It’s a chance for the world to come and see who we are and build bridges between nations and people, and to break down stereotypes.”
He also said that major sporting events place a lot of requirements on a host nation. “And from our experience, it’s very important that the plans you have in place fit with the nation’s overall development plans. That’s what we did. From day one, we recognized we were lucky to have a 12-year gap from when we won right to host the World Cup.”
“That allowed us to plan, but also to sit down and develop our legacy plans. The legacy started from day one. Many nations only start looking at legacy after the tournament, but we planned for it. We worked hard to communicate and engage with stakeholders from beginning to understand what our nation’s goals and vision were, and what was required, and how we could fit into that,” he added.
Every tournament has to have a unique element to bring it close to people’s hearts. In our case, innovation as at the core of what we do. We want to provide the most advanced, engaging experience for all fans who visit Qatar, and research and development is essential to this.
On the topic of sustainability, he stated: We have committed to this being the first carbon-neutral tournament. That’s a huge commitment we have taken on our shoulders and we’re looking at it across the whole Qatari ecosystem.
“Many projects have taken into account the issue of sustainability such as the metro and its importance in people’s health, and special materials were used in building some roads and the amount of water and energy used was reduced,” he said.
About the volunteering strategy, Al Thawadi said: “In 2-3 months, a national volunteering strategy will be launched that addresses the issue of developing volunteering capacity for the World Cup. But it’s also about instilling the volunteer essence and ethos within our communities and within ourselves - Qataris, expats, visitors, everyone.”
“The idea is to demonstrate civic engagement and enable people to contribute to their communities through volunteering. It instils a sense of camaraderie and responsibility and community. A national volunteer strategy aims to bring together different stakeholders to develop an initiative that will be one of the legacies that lasts beyond the World Cup,” he added.
Earlier, commenting on the session, Khalifa Essa Al Kubaisi, Media Relations and Press Office Manager, Qatar Foundation, said: “Our Education City Speaker Series hosts experts and thought-leaders from Qatar and beyond to give their insights and share their experiences on a wide spectrum of topics.”
“It provides the community of Qatar with an opportunity to both hear from, and engage with, these speakers in the spirit of open dialogue and the exchange of perspectives. In this way, the Education City Speaker Series reflects how QF is committed to providing platforms for discourse, interaction, and the sharing of knowledge, and we are delighted to have today welcomed His Excellency Hassan Al Thawadi as our latest speaker.”
For his part, Eng. Meshal Al Shamari, Director of Qatar Green Building Council: said “With less than three years till kick-off of the carbon-neutral FIFA World Cup 2022, Qatar’s sustainability journey feels faster, more challenging, and more exhilarating constantly.
But our decisions for sustainability today must be made with the intention that they will carry us not just to 2022, or even 2030, but to generations ahead.”
