Under the patronage of H.E. Dr. Bassam Ibrahim / the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research / in the presence of:
- Prof. Mohsen Bilal / the Head of the Office of Higher Education, A Member of The Central Leadership of The Arab Socialist Baath Party /.
- Dr. Muhammad Maher Kabakibi / the Head of the University of Damascus /.
- Dr. Anas Buhlal / Specialist of Higher Education Programs at the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab States in Beirut /.
- Dr. Nidal Hassan / the Secretary of the National Commission for UNESCO /.
And representatives of bodies, universities and colleges, the national workshop about "The Role of Universities in Achieving The Sustainable Development Goals" which was held in cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in the Arab countries in Beirut and The Ministry of Education - The Syrian National Commission for UNESCO on February 5th-6th, 2020.
During the workshop, UNESCO asserted on its curiousness for achieving development goals in Syrian universities, the necessity of defining the required mechanisms of implementation , and the importance of Arab Conventions concerning the Recognition of Certificates as a part of the International Convention for the International Recognition of Certificates.
Besides, the attendees stressed that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research is a national education system that comprises formal governmental and private universities and research bodies working for achieving the goals of sustainable development. The expected role for achieving these goals played by universities requires responding to the Fourth Goals of the sustainable development goals and is linked with education.
As for ensuring meeting these goals , universities must pay due attention to scientific research, building partnerships and twinning with other universities, putting the mechanisms of transition into digital universities into operation after the digital transformation issues have become fundamental issues and the first new global priorities.
The expert stated that UNESCO is the specialized organization and the most engaged in the field of higher education and scientific research, as it considers it a basic human right.
In this context, the organization affirms its constant desire to insure this right to everyone, pointing out that reaching to this goal requires a strict legal system. In addition, the expert indicated in his speech to two main topics that come at the heart of UNESCO's interests at this phase: UNESCO Chairs and Artificial Intelligence.
The workshop concluded a set of recommendations, the most prominent of which were: The necessity of the transition and gradual transformation towards the third and fourth generation of universities, the establishment of a platform for sustainable development in each university, as well as the forming of a national committee of academics to set up a national strategy to implement the goals of sustainable development in Syrian universities.