Qatar Foundation and the International Labour Organization partner to help shape the future of Qatar’s workforce

Doha, Qatar (Qatar Foundation and ILO News)- A new partnership designed to produce evidence-based insights that help to guide the future development of Qatar’s workforce has been formed between Qatar Foundation (QF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Data and findings from Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Alumni Impact Study – a large-scale survey tracking employment outcomes, career trajectories, and perceptions of graduates from QF’s universities over the past 25 years – and other labour market-related studies will be used by QF and the International Labour Organization (ILO) to develop five co-authored policy briefs.

These briefs – representing the first formal publication initiative between QF and the ILO since the establishment of the ILO Project Office in Qatar in 2018 – will result in policy-focused insights for the nation’s decision-makers, providing recommendations that support Qatar’s human capital development goals.

The five areas that will be addressed through the partnership are bridging skills gaps and mismatches between alumni and employers; national talent retention; the extent to which Qatar’s higher education system supports entrepreneurship; how higher education in Qatar can better align with the needs of the labour market; and how to advance gender equality and inclusive employment in Qatar.

© Qatar Foundation

© Qatar Foundation

The partnership was formalized through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between QF and the ILO during the recent WISE 12 Summit in Doha, hosted by QF’s global education initiative WISE.

Francisco Marmolejo, President of Higher Education and Education Advisor, QF, said: “QF’s unique education model provides us with deep insights into the factors that shape meaningful student and alumni outcomes.

“This collaboration with ILO enables us to generate evidence-based perspectives aimed at advancing knowledge by contributing to practical policy recommendations that support workforce development and social progress in Qatar and the region. In addition, the QF-ILO partnership will support structured dialogue with key national stakeholders to strengthening alignment around areas of national importance such as skills development, graduate pathways, and inclusive employment, as articulated in Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy.”

Francesco d’Ovidio, Country Office Director of the ILO Doha, said: “This partnership marks the first formal collaboration between the International Labour Organization and Qatar Foundation, and we hope it will be the first of many. By collaborating with QF, gaining structured access to the anonymized dataset of the Alumni Impact Study, the ILO will be able to apply its global analytical frameworks and comparative labour market expertise to generate concrete, evidence-based policy recommendations for Qatar.

“These insights will directly support the ambitions of Qatar National Vision 2030 and the objectives of Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy, helping to advance a knowledge-based economy, a future-ready workforce, and labour market policies that are firmly grounded in decent work principles. We look forward to deepening this partnership and contributing to Qatar’s long-term human capital development.”

© Qatar Foundation

© Qatar Foundation

QF’s Alumni Impact Study has surveyed, over an extensive period, the paths taken by graduates of eight of its universities, including the sectors in which they are employed; the relevance of the skills they have acquired to labour market needs; career mobility; job satisfaction; and their perception of alignment between education and employment.

Drawing on this dataset, the ILO will apply its internationally recognized expertise in labour market analysis, skills development, and employment policy – including comparative global benchmarks and analytical frameworks widely used across ILO member states – as the two organizations co-author and disseminate the five briefs. These publications will be accompanied by national dialogue sessions engaging ministries, universities, employers, and civil society, with the goal of identifying research-backed, actionable pathways for strengthening Qatar’s workforce.

In the 30 years since QF was established, over 11,000 students have graduated from its international partner universities and homegrown Hamad Bin Khalifa University, in fields including medicine, engineering, art and design, communications, international affairs, computer sciences, Islamic studies, law and public policy, humanities and social sciences, and business.

Qatar Foundation – 30 Years of Unlocking Human Potential

Qatar Foundation (QF) is a non-profit organization which, for 30 years, has supported the sustainable human, social, and economic development of Qatar through entities, programs, and initiatives focused on education, science and research, and community development.

QF was founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir of Qatar, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, who shared the vision of providing quality education for everyone in Qatar. In the three decades since, this vision has evolved into a globally unique, multidisciplinary ecosystem of knowledge – offering opportunities for lifelong learning, fostering innovation, and empowering people to be socially engaged citizens and drivers of positive change.

This diverse but interconnected ecosystem comprises a world-class education landscape spanning the full spectrum of learning from pre-school to post-doctoral level; research, innovation, and policy centers addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges facing the world; alongside community facilities for people of all ages to seek knowledge, embrace active lifestyles, and expand their horizons within QF’s Education City, spanning 12 square kilometers in Doha, Qatar.

With its efforts concentrated on generating impact in five key areas – progressive education, sustainability, Artificial Intelligence, precision health, and social progress – QF remains committed, as it has been for the past 30 years, to investing in Qatar and its people, and contributing to shaping a better world for all.

About the ILO and its Regional Office for Arab States

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is devoted to promoting social justice and internationally recognized human and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that social justice is essential to universal and lasting peace.

The only tripartite U.N. agency, since 1919 the ILO has brought together governments, employers and workers of 187 Member States to set labour standards, develop policies and devise programmes promoting decent work for all women and men.

The ILO established its Regional Office for Arab States in 1976 and has worked ever since to advance the ILO’s core values across the Arab region. The ILO established its project office in Qatar in April 2018 to work with Qatar’s Ministry of Labour to support the implementation of a comprehensive labour reform agenda.