Qatar Charity and UHCL partner to help alleviate food insecurity

June 18, 2021 | UHCL Staff

Qatar Charity and the University of Houston-Clear Lake Diplomacy Institute formalized an agreement that will help to ensure that whatever challenges students may face in their educational journey, food insecurity will not be among them.

The Qatar Charity Food Equity Initiative agreement was signed June 15 by UH-Clear Lake President Ira K. Blake and Qatar Charity's CEO, Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Kuwari.

"What could be more fitting than to share a commitment to humanity?" said Blake. "This affirms the best of human nature and demonstrates how leaders and peoples can find common ground around issues for which we share a common concern."

Al-Kuwari joined the event live from Doha, Qatar via Zoom, along with Director of the CEO Office Khalid Aunallah, and Emergency and Relief Director Ahmed Al-Rumaihi.

"I'm honored and proud to announce the Qatar Charity Food Equity Initiative in your presence today," Al-Kuwari said. "Today, in line with our vision of dignity for all, we are proud to work with UH-Clear Lake to bring relief to students who are food insecure."

He added that the pandemic had impacted students' basic needs, and a third of all college students had experienced some form of food insecurity since the pandemic's beginning in March 2020.

"This is a scary number," he said. "We need to make food security resilient and we need to make sure future crises do not threaten students' ability to have access to healthful food. Building on the success and impact that we hope to achieve within the next year, we aim to raise more support and more funds together with UH-Clear Lake to advance the initiative to a global level in the future."

Blake said that Qatar Charity has given UHCL an extraordinary opportunity to further help the region it serves. "This gift and others to follow will enable our university and system to take bold and effective action to alleviate food insecurity," she said.

"Through the work of UHCL's Diplomacy Institute, led by Dr. Gigi Do and our UH System partners, we make this pledge to you...we will deliver food to those in need," she said. "We will deliver on our commitment to honor this agreement, and we will deliver on our shared commitment to humanity."

For more information about UHCL's Diplomacy Institute, go online.