AFED

AFED Highlights
AFED News in a Monthly E-Bulletin
February 2019

AFED 2019 Annual Report
AFED 2019 annual report will be on Environmental Education in Arab countries. This is the 12th in AFED series on the state of Arab environment launched since 2008. The aim is to provide an overview of the situation at school, university and post-graduate levels, and develop recommendations to upgrade the system. One main question is how to tackle environment in the context of sustainable development, introducing concepts such as Green Economy, Sustainable Consumption, Ecological Footprint, etc. The report will suggest practical guidelines for environment education curricula. An expert team is currently working on the report plan, and different regional partners are involved. It will feature special case studies and opinion boxes from UNESCO, OECD, OFID, UfM, IsDB, UNEP, EAD, Kuwait Fund, AUB, AGU, UoB and other main regional institutions and organizations, which have joined as partners.

AFED Annual Conference 2019
AFED Annual Conference will be held on Thursday 14 and Friday 15 November at Le Bristol hotel, Beirut - Lebanon. AFED report on "Environmental Education" will be presented and debated at the event. Potential sponsors have been invited to support the production of the report and logistics of the conference.

Environmental page in Asharq Al Awsat newspaper
February 2019
An agreement was reached between Asharq Al Awsat newspaper and AFED to publish an environment page twice a month, including articles prepared by the Forum's magazine Al-Bia Wal-Tanmia, as well as a column by AFED Secretary General Najib Saab. The page commenced beginning February 2019. http://afedmag.com/web/akhbar-albia-details.aspx?id=11605

Consultation meeting in Egypt to discuss the new AFED report strategy, Cairo, 22 February 2019
A consultation meeting was held in Cairo with some of the co-authors of AFED 2019 report on Environmental Education. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Ahmed Gaber, CEO Chemonics, Egypt, and Professor at Cairo Univetsity, with the participation of Dr. Ibrahim Abdelgelil, visiting professor at AGU, Dr. Abdelmassih Samaan, Professor of Environmental Education at Ain Shams University, and Najib Saab, AFED Secretary General.

AFED cooperation with UNESCO Regional Office, Beirut, 14 February 2019
Integrating environment and sustainability in the education systems was the topic of a meeting between Dr. Hamed Alhammami, Director of UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in the Arab States, and Najib Saab, AFED's Secretary General. AFED introduced to the UNESCO team the outlines of its forthcoming report on Environmental Education in Arab Countries. Alhammami outlined UNESCO's strategic work program in the Arab region for 2018-2021, which highlights emergency measures to sustain access to education in areas facing conflicts.Dr. Alhammami welcomed AFED initiative and offered UNESCO's support to the report and the conference.
http://afedonline.org/en/inner.aspx?contentID=1363

AFED at the Expert Group on Green Technology Investments and Access to Sustainable Financing in the Arab Region, Beirut 4-5 March 2019
AFED presented findings of its report on Financing Sustainable Development to the regional meeting of ESCWA's Expert Group on Green Technology Investments and Access to Sustainable Financing in the Arab Region, held at ESCWA headquarters in Beirut on 4-5 March 2019. AFED Secretary General Najib Saab stressed that green development funding does not only come from fresh money, but mainly from redirecting existing budget allocations from conventional investments. Private investments need to be attracted and coherent policy and regulatory framework enacted. Saab calked for diversifying the economy, revamping taxation, mobilizing savings through development bonds, and eradicating corruption. http://afedonline.org/en/inner.aspx?contentID=1365