RIYADH: Sustainable development topped the agenda as Saudi education, private sector, and civil society leaders met in Riyadh to mark the 77th UN Day.
Under the theme Together Toward the Goals, delegates took part in a series of panel discussions.
Nathalie Fustier, the UN’s resident coordinator in Saudi Arabia, told Arab News: “The Kingdom has a leading role to play because it’s a global power, a retinal power, and the role model in a sense.
“So, if the Kingdom is really embracing the sustainable development goals and proposing a way forward to do better with the (UN) Agenda 2030 (17 global sustainable development goals), a lot of countries might be interested in following suit.
“I think the theme of today is a partnership; we believe strongly in partnership in this team in the UN, because without partnerships you cannot achieve anything in the globalized world.
“Partnership in a society is the government but also the private sector, academia, and civil society, and we have been trying to bring them together since day one.
“It has been a lot of effort for us, but we succeeded with the launch of the local network of the global compact,” she said.
UN Day is an annual celebration marking the ratification of the UN Charter signed in 1945 by the representatives of 50 countries, including Saudi Arabia.
The three panel sessions that took place in Riyadh began with keynote speeches from Fustier, and Hattan Bin Samman, general supervisor of sustainable development at the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning.
Bin Samman said: “Our partnership with the UN, while longstanding, is starting a new era today. An era defined by mutual delivery, achievement, and impact on the local, regional, and international levels.”
Fustier said: “In Saudi Arabia, the partnership has been instrumental in the progress we have made in sustainable development. This reminds us that the UN 2030 Agenda will only succeed if all actors from every segment of society work together to drive forward the real change required to deliver the SDGs and (the central promise of the 2030 Agenda to) leave no one behind.”
Maryam Telmesani, from the UN Global Compact Network Saudi Arabia, hosted the first panel session that concentrated on the role of the private sector in sustainable development.
The second round of talks centered on the involvement of civil society organizations, while the third set of discussions focused on academia.
“The UN sustainable development cooperation framework is the main tool if you want to frame the cooperation between the United Nations and the government of Saudi Arabia,” Fustier added.
The UNSDCF, signed in June, will run until 2026 and prioritize people, the planet, prosperity, and peace and partnership to implement the 2030 Agenda.
Fustier said: “It is a work that has been developed jointly with the authorities, particularly the Ministry of Economy and Planning, but also with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and we hope that it will lead our work toward the priority of the Kingdom and together we will do better in achieving the sustainable development goals.
“It is important to stress that Agenda 2030 is close to the culture of Saudi Arabia, it’s not something that is alien, it is something that should be embraced,” she added.
