Arab States
Secretariat of the Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) in the Arab region
The UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office in the Arab States – UNESCO Beirut, serves as the secretariat of the regional coordination, monitoring and reporting on Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) in the Arab States. The UNESCO Office in Beirut ensures regular communication and information exchange with the global coordination mechanism, guided by the SDG4 High-level Steering Committee (HLSC).
In 2015, under the framework of the RCM, the UNESCO Office in Beirut established an SDG4 Support Group in the Arab States. The group consists of the HLSC, Sherpas, UN interagency group, multilateral organizations, regional organizations, UNESCO category II centers, SDG4 National Coordinators/Focal Points, and UNESCO field offices across the region.
It aims to conduct activities to support Arab Member States in achieving SDG4.
Since 2016, the SDG4 Support Group has organized an annual Arab Regional Meeting on Education 2030 (AR-MED) to discuss SDG 4-related issues. After a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AR-MED was resumed its activities during its fifth edition in November 2023.
This meeting resulted in an SDG4 Roadmap developed by relevant stakeholders and strategic partners with the support and facilitation of the UNESCO Office in Beirut.
SDG 4 in the Arab states
SDG 4 Benchmarking and Indicators
The UNESCO Office in Beirut also supports Arab Member States in setting SDG 4 regional and national benchmarks, indicators and targets for the years 2025 and 2030 to monitor their progress towards SDG 4.
The Office has conducted several regional technical workshops on the SDG 4 benchmarking process.
Benchmarking involves establishing national benchmarks to assess each country's contribution to achieving SDG4. Similar to the approaches taken in the climate change agenda, this process allows countries to define their own targets, considering their unique contexts and starting points. It enhances countries' ownership and accountability for their national targets, aligns education agendas at national, regional, and global levels, improves planning processes, identifies data gaps, and fosters peer dialogue for cross-country learning.
The goal is to accelerate progress toward the shared education objectives.
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