Kuwait reaffirms commitment to achieve SDG goals on ‘education’
Global Education 2030 meeting concludes in Brussels
By Nawab Khan BRUSSELS, Dec 5, (KUNA): Kuwait Wednesday underlined its full support and commitment to achieve the goals of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG) on education. This was expressed by the Kuwaiti participants at the Global Education 2030 meeting which concluded in the Belgian capital today.
The meeting was focused on SDG 4 to raise awareness of education around the globe, Permanent Representative of Kuwait to UNESCO in Paris Ambassador Adam Al-Mulla told KUNA.
The conference also raised the issue of education for refugees and migrants, he said, noting that Kuwait is playing a major role to provide education for these people.
Several international conferences have been held in Kuwait to promote this aim and the contribution of Kuwait was supported and praised by the high level meeting, said Al-Mulla.
“In Kuwait, the right to access of education for everyone is enshrined in the constitution. We are working with the Ministry of Education to improve our quality of education in utilizing the expertise discussed in this international meeting,” he stressed.
On his part, Salah Dabsha al Majidi Assistant Undersecretary in Kuwait’s Ministry of Education Salah Al-Majidi said that “we in Kuwait reaffirm our commitment to achieve the aims of SDG4 and the government is supporting it.”
He said the meeting was “very useful” in exchanging information and experiences on education among the participating countries.
Al-Majidi noted that the SDG 4 has eight goals to be achieved by 2030, including the fundamental role of education and research as key drivers for sustainable development. The three-day meeting titled “Education in an Interconnected World: ensuring inclusive and equitable development” was convened by UNESCO and hosted by Belgium.
The meeting gathered some 300 participants including UN agencies and affiliated organizations, multilateral and bilateral agencies, regional organizations, the teaching profession, civil society organizations, the private sector, foundations, as well as youth and student representatives among others.
In its final statement, the meeting said that “despite some progress, globally, we are not on track to achieve SDG4 targets by 2030.”
There are still 750 million youth and adults who are not literate, two thirds of whom are women, and 262 million children and youth who do not attend school, it said.
“Equally worrying 617 million or 58 percent of children and adolescents are not able to read and do basic mathematics,” it added.