The First International Conference of the Arab Council for Sustainable Development at “Amman Arab University"
Under the patronage of His Excellency Prof. Amr Ezzat Salama Al-Akram, Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Universities, the activities of the first international conference of the Arab Council for Sustainable Development resumed under the title (The role of Arab Universities as Incubators for Sustainable Development: Reality and Hope) at Amman Arab University for two days
His Excellency Dr. Amr Ezzat Salama stressed that we face currently enormous challenges for sustainable development and that there are increasing inequalities within countries among them and huge disparities in opportunities, gender inequality, unemployment, especially youth unemployment, global health threats, biodiversity loss, climate change, natural disasters, wars, etc
He said during his sponsorship of the opening activities of the conference in the presence of: Prof. Zafer Al-Sarraira, Chairman of the Commission for Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions and Quality Assurance, and Prof.Abdul Raheem Al-Hunaiti, Assistant Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Universities, Dr. Issa Rumaih, Saudi Cultural Attaché in Jordan, Mr. Hamad bin Abdullah Al Mahmoud Al-Sharif, the Qatari Cultural Attaché in Jordan, Dr. Qibaat Saeed, the Yemeni Cultural Attaché in Jordan, Dr. Khalid Abdullah Al-Ali, Assistant Undersecretary for Qatari Higher Education Affairs, Dr. Abdullah Hamad Fetis, Director of the Department of Qatari Higher Education Institutions, and Dr. Maher Al-Mah Al-Masooroud, President of the Association of Jordanian Banks, that universities are the main institutions concerned at the global level to produce scientific, technological and social knowledge, disseminate this knowledge among future generations, and analyze public policy issues outside the political framework, and stressed that universities are incubators of teachers who in turn teach children in primary and secondary schools, and it qualify engineers and scientists to manage high-tech companies and diagnose the challenges facing their communities with regard to the three pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social justice, sustainability and the environment.
At the end of his speech, he thanked Amman Arab University for hosting the Arab Council for Sustainable Development and organizing the important conference that works to enable the culture and practices of sustainability in the Arab world
In turn, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Amman Arab University, Dr. Omar Mashhoor Al-Jazi, welcomed all the attendees and distinguished elite of their Excellences, Kinds, Happiness and guests of the University of scholars and thinkers, especially thanks His Excellency Prof. Amr Ezzat Salama for honoring the sponsorship of the work of this first conference of its kind with regard to sustainable development
During his speech, Dr. Al-Jazi pointed out that the subject of sustainable development has increased talk and research on it at the international level because of the great challenges facing the world, and the social, economic and environmental transformations that have taken place. Therefore, experts and specialists in this field are directed to institutions of higher education, especially universities, and activating their social responsibilities, in addition to their academic role, producing knowledge and preparing graduates. This is what was imposed by the challenges of this era and its requirements for it of responsibilities and roles that affect various aspects of life, especially what revolves around the main conference, which concerns us in our Arab world, which is the role of Arab universities in achieving sustainable development
Prof. Mohamed Al-Widyan, President of Amman Arab University, in turn, stressed that the University has been holding such conferences on the most important current issues within its activities and based on its vision and mission and its sense of social responsibility in cooperation with local and international bodies and institutions, as we are today in this first international conference organized by the Arab Council for Sustainable Development / Amman Arab University within the Council's annual plan for 2022/2023
Prof. Al-Widyan pointed out that this conference is based on the objectives of the Arab Council for Sustainable Development, headquartered at Amman Arab University, to achieve the developmental role of Arab higher education institutions and contribute to consolidating the concept of sustainable development in its general comprehensive concept in the institutional work of education and spreading a culture of commitment to its principles and requirements to include, in addition to knowledge aspects in quality, education and scientific research, shed light on the performance of universities in the field of partnership with society and preserving the environment and their contribution to improving the economy of their countries and the development of their societies, in addition to focusing on diagnosing the reality of Arab universities in terms of their societal role and identifying the obstacles to their goals to achieve sustainable development
