The United Arab Emirates National Commission for Education, Culture and Science has chaired the first joint meeting of national commissions at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, on the sidelines of the UNESCO’s General Conference.

It was attended by representatives of the National Commissions for Education, Culture and Science of UNESCO’s member countries from the Arab region, Europe, Latin America, Africa and East Asia.

The meeting aimed to promote joint co-operation for sustainable development among the member countries of the UNESCO, and explore the best practices and priorities among them, as well as highlighting the role of the national commissions in supporting sustainable development goals, besides showcasing the UAE’s efforts in various fields and promoting its international position.

At the meeting, which was chaired by Amal Al Koos, Secretary-General of the United Arab Emirates National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, the participating countries stressed the importance of strengthening international co-operation to achieve the sustainable development goals, especially the 'fourth goal' related to the quality of education, which is considered the main pillar through which awareness can be raised about the other goals.

Al Koos thanked the member countries for their efforts towards unanimous views and common action, which would strengthen the role of each country.

Al Koos noted that the meeting would be the first at the level of all members, as it included the various members from across the world, and it would contribute to achieving the intended objectives, develop a vision for close co-operation, as well as coming up with important recommendations to strengthen the work processes and future mechanisms.

She pointed out that the members had agreed to develop global initiatives that would serve the interests of all member countries. The members also agreed to establish an international website or smart network to serve the commissions as a communication platform among them, she added.

She mentioned that the meeting was the beginning of global co-operation between national commissions, and aimed to strengthen partnerships, exchange of expertise and joint action.

Several recommendations were given at the meeting, some of which were advocated by a few countries that felt the need to have agreements on global initiatives, as everyone agreed that sustainable development goals were the universal means to apply best practices, she affirmed.

The priorities that were discussed at the meeting related to the fourth goal, as it included empowering youth by strengthening their technical and vocational skills, and early childhood and inclusive education, in addition to promoting partnership with the private sector, as well as the other goals related to the education of girls and climate change, she observed.

She maintained that each country clarified how the goals and initiatives would apply to them, as well as the mechanisms of internal co-ordination with the competent authorities in this regard.

She discussed a general summary about sustainable development goals in the UAE, and efforts made by the leadership to promote them while revealing that there was a supreme committee on sustainable development goals in the UAE, which promoted their development. It is chaired by Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and this committee, which includes members from other authorities in the country, studies all the files and goals and follows up on them. She stressed that the UAE is attaching paramount importance to sustainable development goals.

The meeting was attended by the representatives of the national commissions for education, culture and science of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Finland, Canada, South Korea, Kenya, Uganda, Caribbean States, Portugal, China and several other countries.