The Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) launched its ninth conference under the title of “Sustainable development in a changing Arab climate” at the American University of Beirut (AUB) on November 10, 2016, attended by President Fadlo Khuri, and a roomful of notables, alumni, activists, and social influencers.
The conference aims at showcasing the latest results of the studies conducted by AFED and reported annually in a comprehensive report, as well as proposing solutions for the environmental challenges faced in the Arab world, and for sustainable development that is much needed in this region.
The conference started with a documentary portraying the challenges faced by the Arab countries to attain sustainable development. Poor distribution of food and water resources in the Arab World leaves 50 million underprivileged individuals dealing with hunger. AFED urges governments to adapt sustainable policies that take into account water scarcity and climate change to be integrated in all reconstruction projects.
Dr. Khuri opened the conference with a speech emphasizing the role that educational institutions can play in order to provide countries with better sustainable solutions to achieve their environmental goals and strategies in the near future.
“This university has throughout its existence been at the forefront of efforts to ending poverty and hunger, to ensuring better health, promoting gender equity, protecting the environment, even fostering world peace at the foundation of the UN in 1945,” he said.
Dr. Khuri assured that the sustainable development goals set by the United Nations go hand-in-hand with AUB’s mission and vision when it comes to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Dr. Khuri invited the stakeholders to “roll up their sleeves and get to work” to execute fundamental changes in order to create a sustainable future.
Dr. Adnan Badran, chairman of the AFED board of trustees, highlighted the importance of the AFED report; being unique in the Arab World, the forum has become a reference for academia and policy makers. Badran stated that the Arab World faces plenty of economic, social, and political challenges that might regress the achievement of sustainability. He, however, was confident that with proper integration of policies, the Arab World would be able to progress on that level.
Dr. Badran thanked AUB for hosting the conference, saying that this university played a major role in “changing the political scene in the Arab World by graduating leaders who believe in constructing democracy”.
Najib Saab, Secretary General of AFED, emphasized the importance of integrating sustainable solutions in the reconstruction of the regions damaged by conflict in the Arab World, saying that “we need the basics of sustainable development to survive after the kind of wars we have been through.”
Saab said that choosing AUB as a venue for the ninth AFED conference showed that education and awareness were key to promoting sustainable solutions.
The AFED environmental life award was presented to Dr. Abdelrahman Al Awadi, Chairman of the executive committee, to honor his lifelong commitment to environmental issues. Dr. Al Awadi is an AUB alumnus who graduated with a BS in 1958, and who later served as a Minister of Public Health and Planning in Kuwait. Presenting Dr. Al Awadi with the book One Hundred and Fifty, Dr. Khuri said that Dr. Al Awadi “embodies the values of our founding fathers.”
Al Awadi then took the stage, and thanked AFED and AUB for the gestures. He emphasized the importance of being eco-conscious and committing to environmental issues in a turbulent Arab region.
The conference extended over two days, during which experts discussed the issues at hand in panels organized by the forum. HE Dr. Tarik Mitri, Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, Dr. Rima Habib, Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Iman Nuwayhid, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Dr. Farah Naja, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, as well as President Khuri took part in the panels on the first and second days of the conference. (AUB News)