Qatar Academy Doha’s Activists in Action take their eco-mission to a global education audience

Students who form Qatar Academy Doha’s Activists in Action group have taken their cause to the global community, presenting at the 2021 WISE Summit and calling on delegates to help tackle climate change by signing a petition to ban single use plastic bags in Qatar.

The Spotlight session, held on the third day of the summit organized by WISE – Qatar Foundation’s (QF) global education think tank – was led by Al Anoud Al Hitmi, a 13-year-old Qatari student and founding member of Activists in Action, and Elizabeth Kennedy, Assistant Principal, Qatar Academy Doha Primary School, part of QF’s Pre-University Education.

“Our mission was started by a group of committed Grade 5 students, who ignited our community to take action through their empowered voices and actions, and our journey started over two-and-a-half years ago with our first activation,” Al Hitmi said, explaining how the young people covered the walls and floors of their school with single-use plastic bags to highlight their dangers and their impact on the environment.

“Did you know that the average lifespan of a single-use plastic bag is 12 minutes, and it takes hundreds of years to breakdown? Even though I am a 13-year-old, I understand that this cannot continue.”

Activists in Action student leaders started a petition – which, because of the pandemic, is now online – calling for single-use plastic bags to be banned in Qatar. “Although COVID-19 challenged us, we stayed committed to our mission and vision for a greener Qatar,” said Al Hitmi.

This year’s edition of the WISE Summit was held in-person and online under the theme of Generation Unmute: Reclaiming Our Future Through Education, and brought together more than 10,000 speakers and delegates from around the world. 

And speaking about her experience of presenting at the global summit, Al Hitmi said: “This was very exciting - it was an amazing opportunity to speak about my experience and to raise awareness, to tell people about the negative impact of plastic.

“I want to unmute and talk about my passion. Since WISE is such a big event, and there are so many people there, it’s a great opportunity for us to speak about what we’re doing, and to encourage people to sign our petition and to help us reach our goal.”

Al Hitmi also used the WISE Summit platform to make a direct call to delegates, asking them: “Are you ready for a change?

“Please join the movement to ban single use plastics bags in Qatar. We currently, collectively between our online and paper petition, have a total of 9,000 signatures, and we really hope that this number keeps growing. And we hope soon that Qatar will ban single-use plastic bags.

“We are Activists in Action, and we are calling on you to take action.”