Dubai, UAE, 13 December 2023 - Reinforcing its commitment to making education transformation an achievable reality for every country in the world, Dubai Cares unveiled its ‘Global Education Solutions Accelerator’ (GESA) at COP28. AKF will act as a strategic partner for the Accelerator, aiming to fast-track education transformation across the 10 countries that are part of Schools2030 – AKF’s flagship education programme.

The innovative mechanism will help countries accelerate progress towards achieving SDG4 by 2030. Each country will identify and implement solutions that best address their education challenges and ambitions and allow them to leverage quality education systems as a core catalyst for sustainable development.

In its first phase, Dubai Cares and AKF are working to rapidly improve education in 10 countries (Afghanistan, Brazil, India, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Portugal, Tajikistan, Tanzania and Uganda) through the Schools2030 initiative. The goal is to enhance the education systems in these countries to help children and young people reach their full potential. This involves focusing on a broad set of values, skills, knowledge, and experiences that will help them tackle present challenges and contribute to the economic and social growth of their nations.

Michael Kocher, General Manager at AKF, said: “As a long-standing partner of Dubai Cares, we are excited to be invited as strategic partners for the launch of GESA. We are ready to work with learners, teachers, communities, youth, governments, and civil society organisations to co-create new pathways for educational transformation across schools, systems and societies to deliver meaningful results for people and the planet by 2030 and beyond.”

H.E. Dr Tariq Al Gurg, CEO and Vice-Chairman of Dubai Cares, made the announcement as part of his keynote address in a high-level session titled "The Youth and Education Session: The latent force of climate action" on 2 December during COP28’s World Climate Action Summit.

The session was moderated by Dr Andrew Cunningham, Global Lead for Education at AKF, and was attended by heads of state and other high-level speakers including: HE Siaosi Sovaleni, Prime Minister and Minister of Education, the Kingdom of Tonga; Honorable Kausea Natano, Prime Minister of Tuvalu; H.E. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE Minister of Education; H.E. Shamma Al Mazrui, COP28 Youth Climate Champion, Ms Kitty van der Heijden, Assistant Secretary General, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF; Prof Dr Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of Global Centre on Adaptation; and Ms Mafalda Duarte, Executive Director, Green Climate Fund, among others.

Highlighting the gaps that the Accelerator will address, Dr Al Gurg said: “The urgency of the climate crisis requires us to work at the speed of light to expedite the implementation of solutions like the Accelerator, and any delays in our actions from this point forwards will result in irreversible consequences for people and inflict irreparable damage on our planet. Let’s ensure that the one billion children who are currently at extreme high risk of climate change can inherit the world, realise their full potential and propel our planet’s prosperity to new heights.”