The States Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination have elected Qatar's candidate, HE Dr Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad, as member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by an overwhelming majority. She received 132 votes from a group of 180 votes to the States Parties to the Convention.
Dr al-Misnad has been elected at 28th meeting of the States Parties to the Convention held on Friday at the UN headquarters in New York.
Dr al-Misnad was elected among 14 candidates to fill nine seats for the committee.
The election of Dr al-Misnad comes for her role in emphasising the right to education and the dissemination of human rights principles in the educational curricula, as evidenced by her deep respect for the principles of dignity and equality among all human beings.
Throughout her career, she has promoted and respected everyone without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.
The efforts of Qatar's permanent delegation to the UN were crowned in managing the electoral campaign and culminated in the election victory of Dr al-Misnad amid fierce competition.
Dr al-Misnad's victory also underscores Qatar's vital role in defending human rights and working through UN bodies to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.
Dr al-Misnad was appointed President of Qatar University in 2003 -- the first Qatari woman to hold this position.
Since 2012 she has been a member of the Global Justice Project.
She received her PhD in Education from the University of Durham, UK, and received a Bachelor of Arts and Education and a special Diploma in Education from Qatar University.
She received her Honorary Doctorate in Law from Dalhousie University in Canada and Durham University in the UK.
The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination includes 18 independent experts of moral integrity, competence and recognition in the field of the defence of human rights and humanitarian and international law. Members are elected for a four-year term. The committee is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which was adopted on December 21, 1965 and entered into force in 1969.