Junior Chamber International in Lattakia launched “Sustainable Development Goals Training” project

The “Sustainable Development Goals Training” project launched by the Junior Chamber International JCI in Lattakia constituted a platform to introduce these goals adopted by the United Nations to achieve a better future and an opportunity to empower young people with effective community work skills and create ideas for sustainable community projects.

“ he project, which presented the 17 goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and aspires through its work with all societies to reach them in 2030, is divided into two stages, targeting two different age categories” according to the project manager, Mustafa Rostom.

He said in a statement to Syriatimes e-newspaper that the first stage included training the youth category including members of the JCI in Lattakia and the non-member community over two days on the concept of active citizenship and the definition of sustainable development goals and linking them with the civil society.

He pointed out that the second stage, hosted by the Children’s Public Library Association, is of great importance and specificity as it directed towards 30 children between the ages of 10 – 13 years to implant the values of the sustainable development goals in them, with a focus on certain goals such as the right to education, gender equality, environmental protection and hygiene, which we can invest in with Children at an early age to form a clear view of the importance of their role in achieving these goals that would develop their societies.

Dalia Suleiman, President of the JCI in Lattakia for the year 2021, said that the period following crises, the need to direct the behavior of young people towards community, economic, scientific work and various other aspects increases, to preserve public resources and to develop and invest the most appropriate.

She pointed to a noticeable increase in active youth participation in initiatives that seek to raise the future of the world as a whole, and Syria in particular, adding however, some of these initiatives are characterized by fragmentation and lack of unification of efforts. Therefore, there is a need for such projects to fill knowledge gaps that seek to join forces to create a positive sustainable impact.

For her part, Mays Al-Dasuky, Head of the Children’s Public Library Association, said that the project sheds light on the concepts of sustainable development and the role that can be played to reach them, especially with children through simplified concepts and by using tools and games that can touch their imaginations to bring-up a conscious generation capable of truly contributing to the construction of its homeland.

Al-Dasauki noted the joint cooperation with the JCI in Lattakia through many activities aimed at developing culture, whether for young people or children, stressing that the library welcomes any activity that enhances societal and cultural awareness at the level of the child and the family.

Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam