Multaqa (Student Center

Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) reopened The iconic museum reopened in October, following an enhancement project and the reimagination and reinstallation of its permanent collection galleries. The region’s foremost institution for Islamic art now provides a more accessible, engaging and educational experience for guests. More than 1,000 objects will be displayed in the Museum’s permanent galleries for the first time. The galleries are organised according to historical and cultural themes, time periods and geography, with a new section on Islam in Southeast Asia. The visitor experience introduces a comprehensive visitor trail, expanded interpretive materials to help contextualise the masterworks, and new mobile and child-friendly resources to make the Museum more accessible for families and younger guests. The State of Qatar launched a new national emblem The Government Communications Office (GCO) unveiled a new national emblem of the State of Qatar in September, with a design based on the trinity of sand, sea and sky – three elements closely associated with Qatar’s rich history. Each element has a significance: the striped sail of the Jalboot symbolises the national flag, the palm trees represent the generosity and abundance of the Qatari nation, while the sea waves signify strength and are represented by three lines referencing Qatar’s unique geographic location with water surrounding it from three sides. The two crossed swords at the bottom are a symbol of honour, pride, and power. The font used is a new official typeface called Lusail inspired by the original manuscripts of the Founder Sheikh Jassim bin Mohammed bin Thani. Shura Council marked 50th anniversary of its founding The Shura Council was established in 1972 by HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani with just 20 members. The Amir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani amended the composition of the council increasing the number of members to 45, most of whom were directly elected and which saw the first female members of the council in history in 2017. More changes came in 2021, with the election of two-thirds of its members through free and direct voting. The Shura Council Exhibition was attended by The Amir, where he viewed records, letters and collections presenting the history of the Shura Council since its establishment and the members who contributed to its direction and their legislative efforts. Highlights of other domestic news: • The slogan of Qatar National Day (QND) 2022 was unveiled as Wahdatuna Masdar Quwatina – ‘Our unity is the source of our success’, inspired by an excerpt from a speech given by The Amir, HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad

Al Thani at the Shura Council. There is a packed itinerary of events to look forward to around town – see our

Events Calendar for more details and visit marhaba.qa for updates. • Qatar joined the AMBER Alert network on Facebook and Instagram to help find missing children and return them to their families by publishing missing alerts (September).

HEALTHCARE

Minister of Public Health received prestigious accolade HE Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, along with senior leaders from Qatar’s healthcare sector, took part in the ‘Walk the Talk: Health For All Challenge’ organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva in May. Before the start of the walk, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus presented HE Dr Al Kuwari with a special Director-General’s Health Champions 2022 award in recognition of her outstanding advocacy in global health promotion and security. All Qatari cities now have WHO’s ‘Healthy City’ distinction The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated all eight Qatari municipalities as ‘Healthy Cities’, which sees Qatar as the first in the Eastern Mediterranean Region to receive awards for all its municipalities and is a result of one of the National Health Strategy 2018-2022 projects. In October, Umm Slal, Al Khor/Al Thakhira, Al Wakra, Al Daayen, Al Shamal and Al Sheehaniya municipalities were joined by Qatar University as ‘Healthy University’ and Qatar Foundation’s Education City as ‘Healthy Education City’. Doha and Al Rayyan municipalities received the award earlier in the year. After the ceremony, 11 trees were planted as part of the ‘One Million Tree Planting’ initiative. All trees will be moved to DADU, Children’s Museum of Qatar.