Sustainable Development Goals and the UNESCO Amman Office

UNESCO, as the United Nations’ specialized agency for education, has been entrusted to lead and coordinate the Education 2030 Agenda along with its partners, following the Incheon Declaration of May 2015.

The roadmap designed to facilitate the global achievement of the ten targets of Goal 4 has been set forth in the ‘Education 2030 Framework for Action’ which provides guidance to governments and partners on how to turn commitments into action. ‘Education 2030’ goes beyond past attempts to ensure access to basic education and the main responsibility for implementing the new education agenda is shared between the government and UNESCO with partners providing support through coordinated policy advice, technical assistance, capacity development and monitoring of progress at global, regional and national levels.

The UNESCO Amman Office Education team is engaged in projects focusing on the following targets:

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

• Target 4.3 : UNESCO works to enhance equal access to and retention of students in education and supports programmes that encourage and enable girls and women to participate in and contribute to their families, communities and economies more broadly.  UNESCO provides technical and vocational education and training for Syrian and Jordanian youth in Jordan, supporting them in transitioning to opportunities in the labor market or continuing their education and training.

• Target 4.4: UNESCO supports and strengthens teacher training, adding strategic value by improving the quality of education and fostering an integrated approach to teaching professional development at the school level, striving to build on relevant skills leading to employment and decent jobs.

• Target 4.7: The UNESCO culture team contributes to sustainable development and conservation of environmental, natural and cultural heritage, recognizing that the active engagement of children and youth is essential to this work. UNESCO promotes children’s heritage education, enabling long-lasting preservation and enhancement of the history and identity of Jordan and its people.

Around the world, young women and men are driving change and claiming respect for fundamental freedoms and rights, improved conditions for themselves and their communities and opportunities to learn, work and participate in decisions that affect them. At the same time, due to persistent crises, they face acute challenges affecting important aspects of their lives.

Through the lens of the regional UNESCO “Networks for Mediterranean Youth” project, the Amman Office SHS team is focusing on the following targets:  

Goal 10: Reduce inequalities within and among countries.

• Target 10.3: The NET MED Youth initiative strives to develop inclusive societies and facilitate platforms for dialogue. UNESCO is encouraging stronger participation and representation of youth and youth organizations within national, regional and international debate.

Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

• Target 16.7: The NET MED Youth initiative advocates for responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels. UNESCO is strengthening awareness among stakeholders, decision-makers and the media regarding youth and youth organizations’ engagement in youth public policy development, implementation and monitoring.

Culture is a driver and enabler of sustainable development and essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda as it contributes to human and socio-economic development, quality education, social inclusion, sustainable cities, environmental sustainability and peaceful societies.

The UNESCO Amman Office Culture team is engaged in projects focusing on the following targets:

Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.

• Target 4.7: The UNESCO culture team contributes to sustainable development and conservation of environmental, natural and cultural heritage, recognizing that the active engagement of children and youth is essential to this work. UNESCO promotes children’s heritage education, enabling long-lasting preservation and enhancement of the history and identity of Jordan and its people.

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 

• Target 5.5: Women are key actors of sustainable change and socio-economic development. UNESCO engages women from all sectors of society in the creation of improved livelihood opportunities that capitalize on the country’s cultural assets as a source of recovery and resilience.

Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.  

• Target 8.9: In a fast-changing and multicultural world, creative industries are an essential investment in sustained economic growth. UNESCO Amman invests in the rich cultural heritage of Jordan to create income generating opportunities for rural women.

Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 

• Target 11.4: UNESCO provides technical assistance to the Government of Jordan to adopt resilient management practices aimed at the preservation and protection of cultural and natural heritage. It focuses on the application of Disaster Risk Reduction strategies at the local level and the implementation of education and awareness raising activities for the enhanced preparedness and mitigation of disaster risks and climate change phenomena.

UNESCO believes that free, independent and pluralistic media in print, broadcast and online are needed in order to ensure the free flow of ideas by word and image. These are preconditions for optimizing progress with regard to building knowledge societies.

UNESCO promotes the advancement of public access to information, the safety of journalists, youth and gender equality in and through media, diversity and plurality in media, improved professional standards and the empowerment of people with media and information literacy. Communication and media lie at the heart of sustainable development.

The UNESCO Amman Office Communication and Information team is engaged in projects focusing on the following targets:

Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.

• Target 16.10: As the United Nations agency with the specific mandate to promote “the free flow of ideas by word and image”, UNESCO creates an enabling regulatory and institutional environment while developing the capacity for an independent, quality-based media sector serving the entire population. UNESCO provides specialized technical assistance and capacity development to media practitioners, journalists and national institutions while developing journalism education and empowering individuals as informed producers and consumers of information.