Dubai Cares' Mission at 78th United Nations General Assembly: a Mission not only for Climate and Education, but one for Human Development

 

Dubai, UAE, 24 September, 2023: As part of its engagements at 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Dubai Cares, a civil society organization formally associated with the United Nations Department of Global Communications (UN DGC), called on the education and climate sectors to leverage the upcoming RewirEd Summit at COP28 as an opportunity to unite, align agendas and advocate for rewired education systems as the key to addressing climate change and other global crises at their core. The UAE-based global philanthropic organization continued to champion education transformation for not only climate change, but also human development at the high-level event.

 

COP28 Presidency and Dubai Cares Set Stage for RewirEd Summit during UNGA Week

 

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, COP28 Presidency and Dubai Cares jointly hosted an exclusive high-level session, to outline the COP28 Presidency and RewirEd Summit’s vision for education at COP28 as well as setting a legacy of placing education at the heart of human development for people and planet. The session took place in the presence of high-level representatives from COP28 Presidency, the UAE Government as well as global RewirEd Summit strategic partners, including  His Excellency Adnan Ameen, Chief Executive Officer of COP28, His Excellency Dr.Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares, and CEOs of Generation Unlimited, Education Cannot Wait, and Aga Khan Foundation, as well as high-level representatives from UNICEF, Global Partnership for Education, UNESCO, COP28 Youth Delegates among others, where speakers highlighted their plans related to education, skills and climate for children and youth as part of their upcoming participation at the Rewired Summit.

 

During the session, the COP28 Presidency and Dubai Cares reinforced the UAE’s commitment to positioning education at the heart of the climate agenda, in line with COP28’s dedicated thematic day on “Youth, Children, Education, and Skills” on 8th December, 2023, when Dubai Cares will host the second edition of the RewirEd Summit. The Summit aims to align the common goals amongst the climate and education agendas towards a unified plan to bring global education transformation to the forefront of the climate agenda. The global education gathering will convene diverse voices and sectors including heads of state, governments, UN agencies and multilaterals, civil society, as well as voices from the education, climate, private sectors, along with indigenous communities and youth in order to disrupt, rethink and reimagine current education systems for the future of people and planet.

 

Commenting on the significance of Dubai Cares’ UNGA engagements in positioning education transformation at the heart of climate action, His Excellency Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, Chief Executive Officer and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares, said: “With less than three months to go for COP28, our participation in the 78th United Nations General Assembly was centered on ensuring that we can align the priorities and agendas of the global education and climate sectors together, towards a collective roadmap for the future. Supporting COP28’s vision towards being a COP of Action, RewirEd Summit at COP28 will serve as a ‘Summit of Solutions’ that emerge from the intersection of education and climate, as well as provide both education and climate actors a global platform, in order to shift the focus from challenges to resolutions and showcase the tremendous value of a transformed education system in driving progress and prosperity for people and the planet across all sustainable development goals.” 

 

Dubai Cares Champions Global Education Transformation for Climate Action during UNGA Week 

As part of Dubai Cares’ engagements at UNGA week, Dr. Tariq Al Gurg delivered key remarks at a number of high-level sessions including Education Cannot Wait’s High-Level Steering Group meeting and Generation Unlimited’s Board and Global Leadership Council meetings. Additionally, Dr. Al Gurg spoke at several panels including the “High-Impact Initiative on Transforming Education” session, convened by the UN Secretary General; and “Reimagining the Future of Learning for Sustainability and Inclusivity”, hosted by SAP and World Scouting; as well as “Act For Early Years: Accelerating the Movement to Unlock Investment in the Early Years” luncheon, organized by ECDAN and Theirworld; and “Demystifying and Making Coding Compulsory worldwide” roundtable, organized by iamtheCODE . 

In addition, Dr. Al Gurg attended a series of high-level bilateral meetings to further strengthen Dubai Cares’ mission of placing education at the forefront of both the human development and climate agendas.

RewirEd Summit at COP28: December 8, 2023, Expo City Dubai

RewirEd Summit 2023 at COP28 will take place on 8th December, 2023 at Expo City Dubai. The summit’s programming will reflect its four key thematic priorities namely: Rewiring Lifelong Learning for Green Jobs and Green Economy, Leverage Technology and Connectivity to Rewire Education Systems for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, Transformative Policy and Innovative Financing at the Nexus of Education and Climate Action; and People and Knowledge at the Heart of Transformation for People and Planet.