Kuwaiti calls for doubling efforts for sustainable dev

Deal signed with France to dig Failaka Island

PARIS, Nov 7, (KUNA): Representative of Al-Saad Foundation for Knowledge and Scientific Research Dr Ali Al-Kandari highlighted the need of public-private partnership to realize the targets of sustainable development.

Addressing the 39th Session of the UNESCO General Conference on Monday, Dr Al-Kandari said it’s imperative for public and private institutions to make concerted efforts on the national, regional and international levels to speed up pace towards sustainable development.

He noted that the UNESCO affirmed the crucial importance of the public-private strategic partnership geared to development in its ministerial Incheon Declaration adopted in 2015 under the title of “Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.” Dr Al-Kadari took pride in the fact that his foundation is one of the Kuwaiti agencies contributing to the international efforts relating to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The foundation and its chairperson Sheikha Fadia Al-Saad Al-Sabah cooperate with the Kuwaiti government to educate people on, and promote awareness about, the development agenda, he added.

Meanwhile, the National Council for Culture, Arts, and Letters (NCCAL) signed Tuesday a cooperation agreement with the French Archaeological Mission to carry out archaeological surveying and excavations in Failaka Island.

NCCAL’s Secretary-General Dr Ali Al-Youha and the Director of the French-Kuwaiti Archaeological Mission Dr Julie Bonneric at NCCAL’s headquarters signed the agreement.

As per the agreement, the excavation works will concentrate on the sites of Hellenistic castle and Al-Qusor in the Kuwaiti Island, NCCAL’s Secretariat-General said in a statement.

The 17-point agreement requires the French mission to follow Kuwaiti laws, including the Amiri Decree No. 1 of 1960 on archaeology, throughout their work period in the island.

It also requires the mission to restore and renovate discovered antiques and monuments, train and prepare the Kuwaiti team taking part in the mission’s operations, and submit a detailed list on all discovered items following each excavation in both sites.

The French mission is also required to submit a final study on the sites, viable for scientific publication in English language, after two years of carrying out final excavation in the island.

Dr Bonneric, also a member of the French Institute for the Near East, has written an important booklet for researchers and readers on all historical sites inside Failaka Island, including castles, churches, and other Christian related monuments that date back between 600 and 900 AD.