Written By: Nourhan Badr El-Din

In order to support the vision of 2030, the League of Arab States has organized the third Edition of the Arab Sustainable Development Week from 3-6 November 2019 under the theme of “Integrated Partnership for a Sustainable Future”, in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the World Bank, the United Nations and the European Union.

This mega event came as a proof that mingling between the game makers, thought leaders, and risk takers from the government, the public sector, the private sector, and the civil society is the empowering engine for achieving sustainability goals on the social, economic, and environmental levels and for the nation branding as well.

Fathy Emad, the president of Egypt Youth 2030, stated: “This is the beginning of a permanent platform, to support partnerships to achieve sustainable development in Egypt, where the youth of Egypt 2030 will undertake many projects and events, to support the achievement of sustainability and the Egypt’s vision 2030.”

Also, the Ambassador Ivan Sorkus, Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Cairo during the opening session shared: “Today’s challenges must be met in conjunction with those of yesterday, as this is one of the most important obstacles facing the Arab world.”

The Arab Sustainable Development Week is about facing the current and future challenges, connecting the various representatives of the Egyptian sectors with the local and international leaders and entities, sharing experiences, and thus ensuring that the action plans are taken into consideration and developed for better decision making.

Moreover, Ms. Wissal Hussein Abdallah, Assistant General Secretary of the National Population Council said that: “Institutional framework for the implementation of the Sustainable Development goals under the presidency of the Council of Ministers has established a national technical mechanism to follow up the implementation of the goals, and one of our main priorities is to promote peace and harmony between different cultures and sustainable awareness.”

This also shows us that sustainability can take many forms, it can’t be replaced or just be assigned as a target for individuals at specific initiative or company. We should keen on its implementation as a service, product, and also as a tangible concept that we have to adapt in our lives and even through our daily communication.

In any organization, the change starts from management and also by investing in human resources as, Nevin Abdel Khalek, Vice Chairman at Consulting Engineers Company and Chairman of the Businessmen’s Sustainable Development Committee said that: “The management is the most important element that exists in any organization, in addition to effective partnerships between organizations to achieve sustainable development. Investment in human resources is the foundation for development, along with cooperation and partnerships between government, the private sector and civil society.”

The social perspective of sustainability in the private sector is not only about the community social responsibility department activities, but also further steps should also be taken, to promote acceptance and diversity at the working environment.

A promising example from the banking sector, Sarah Ibrahim, Head of Marketing and Communication at Attijariwafa Bank Egypt, who said that: “We have created a recruitment forum for people with special needs and 25 people were hired in the bank.”

So the question that pops up is how can you define and make up your sustainable goal in your network and at your company and what will be your contribution or upcoming initiative?