IFLA President Vicki McDonald and Secretary General Sharon Memis joined the President and Executive Director of Qatar National Library formally to open IFLA’s Regional Office for the Middle East and North Africa.

Two women sit at a table with flowers and a black tablecloth signing a document. Behind them, a woman in islamic dress, a blond woman in a green dress, and another woman in islamic address.
Front (l-r): Sharon Memis (IFLA Secretary General), Huism Tan (Executive Director, Qatar National Library). Back row: Eiman Al Shammari (Manager, IFLA MENA Regional Office), Vicki McDonald (IFLA President 2023-2025), Abeer Al-Kuwari (Director of Research and Learning Services, QNL)

Following the decision to define the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as an IFLA region in 2021, the renewal of our Regional Offices that took place in 2023 was an opportunity to call, for the first time, for a host for one in MENA.

Qatar National Library (QNL), which is already a leading institution in the region and host of a very dynamic IFLA Preservation and Conservation Centre, applied to host the Office, and was duly selected by the Governing Board.

Having started its work earlier this year, with a number of notably achievements already, it was therefore timely for IFLA President Vicki McDonald and Secretary-General Sharon Memis to participate in the official signing ceremony on 15 December. This took place in the context of a conference on Building Capacity and Collaborative Networks for Libraries in the MENA Region.

In addition to the formal signing alongside QNL President HE Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Executive Director Huism Tan, both Vicki and Sharon joined the opening ceremony, highlighting the importance of effective regional offices for achieving IFLA’s overall goals, in particular when it comes to building effective partnerships. Sharon also joined a panel exploring the value of working regionally, including around the Sustainable Development Goals.

A white man with a white beard and bald head in a red tie, blazer and khaki trousers, and a white woman with blond hair, a loose black suite and a blue scarf. There is a car in the background
Peter Lor (IFLA SG, 2005-2008), Sharon Memis (IFLA SG 2023-)

Other speakers included the head of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia Library, Mohamed Zuheir Bakleh, who underlined the potential to increase focus on community needs among libraries in the region, and Peter Upton, who helped break down the different elements of partnerships. The event also benefitted form the contributions of MENA Regional Division Chair Saif Al Jabri and Vice-Chair Eman Albushulaibi.

The keynote for the conference was Peter Lor, former IFLA Secretary-General, who helped put the work of IFLA into a historical context, providing valuable insights for anyone engaged in our work today.

We are grateful to HE Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari and Huism Tan, Abeer Al Kuwari, and our Regional Office Manager Eiman al Shamari.

We are very much looking forward to developing our work with the Regional Office, collaborating with the Regional Division Committee and other actors in the region, in order to realise the potential of being part of an international and global federation in the region.