Owais Inaugurates the 54th Arab Universities Union Conference in Al-Ahliyya Amman University

On Sunday, 27 March 2022, The Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Wajih Owais, inaugurated the 54th Arab Universities Union conference, which was hosted by Al-Ahliyya Amman University at the Arena Theatre for the duration of two days and the participation of 100 universities from different Arab countries.His Excellency Minister Owais praised the achievements of the Association of Arab Universities and welcomed the conference participants in Jordan and thanked the Al-Ahliyya Amman University for the outstanding hosting of this conference.Arab League Secretary Ahmed Abul Gheit said in a speech via Zoom: The General Secretariat of the Arab League deals with the Association of Arab Universities through important projects, the most important of which is the general classification, which is one of the projects to be launched this year in partnership with the Arab Organization for Culture and Science and the project aims to develop a classification of Arab universities according to a vision that takes into account the circumstances of these universities. Furthermore, the Association cooperated with the Arab League in preparing the Arab strategy for scientific research, technology and innovation and has supported the education initiative for return which aims to provide scholarships to Arab students affected by conflicts by signing protocols with Arab universities and building a database of accredited magazines.Abul Gheit called for intensifying student activities in universities, especially in Arab countries that are going through difficult circumstances, stressing the Arab League's support for these activities, and thanked Al-Ahliyya Amman university for organizing this important conference and showed gratitude for the efforts of the ministers of higher education in the Arab countries to continue the educational process during the Corona pandemic.The Secretary General of the Association of Arab Universities, Dr. Amr Ezzat Salameh, pointed out that the Association was created based on the real need shown by the developments taking place in societies to unify international efforts and create solutions and projects that elevate human beings in addition to the changes taking place in the world in the field of scientific research and academic work. Furthermore, he mentioned that the Association is a joint Arab work and a milestone demonstrating Arab unity and its hopes in the existence of an active joint association among the members of the Arab society to further upgrade the level of Arab universities to an international scale in addition to exploring new horizons for international relations. He also added: Based on the strategic plan 2019-2030, the Association continues to seek to keep up with the latest developments and achieve the global standard in higher education and its guidelines, build the administrative capacity of universities, enhance quality and increase partnerships between universities in the region and international universities, and is keen to support and coordinate scientific, academic and research efforts that seek to achieve sustainable development in the Arab countries.Dr. Salameh stated that the Association includes twenty-six associations, 10 councils and two centers in addition to two funds for scientific research and support for Palestinian universities and that the number of agreements concluded by the Association exceeded 30 agreements from 2019 until early 2022, reflecting positively on the process of higher education in our Arab countries. He also mentioned the annual Awards of the Association for Scientific Production, the best master's thesis, and the best doctoral thesis. Lastly, he thanked Al-Ahliyya Amman University on behalf of the Association for hosting this conference.Prof. Dr. Sari Hamdan, President of Al-Ahliyya Amman University, said the conference is beneficial for private and public universities and contributes to the development of scientific research and placing scientific journals on an international scale, as well as supporting joint scientific research. He pointed out that this partnership will contribute significantly to the development of the education process, where private universities provide support and do not compete with public universities, and this gives a great incentive to achieve more, pointing out that this conference will reflect on Al-Ahliyya Amman University as it will support the university magazine and Al-Balqa Research Magazine, in addition to siging agreements for joint research with prestigious Arab universities in various majors.He also confirmed that Al-Ahliyya Amman University began establishing a faculty of dentistry utilizing the latest technologies and equipment used by other faculties of dentistry around the world, in addition to making use of all existing experiences and the participation of researchers from Jordan and abroad to improve the process of scientific research.His Excellency Prof. Dr. Issa bin Hassan Al Ansari, Director of Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University, President of the 53rd Session of the Association of Arab Universities, spoke via Zoom and showed appreciation to Al-Ahliyya Amman University and the Kingdom of Jordan for hosting the 54th Session of the Association of Arab Universities, stressing the importance of continuing the achievements of the previous session, noting the importance of those achievements, including: The Arab Council for Youth, the Scholarship Program and the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Award for Best Scientific Production ($250,000), ensuring the continuous support of Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University for the higher education and scientific research of the Association.His Excellency Prof. Dr. Mohamed Weld Omar from Mauritania, Director of the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science, stressed the need for cooperation between the Association and the organization to develop a joint database to develop the scientific research and educational process in the Arab world, emphasizing on the importance of the conference in light of the challenges and the current health situation, thanking Al-Ahliyya Amman University for hosting this conference.The president of the Federation of Scientific Research Councils, Prof. Dr. Mubarak Mohammed Majzoub, also recalled the founding of this Association in 1970 with the aim of closer cooperation between scientific research institutions in the Arab world, especially those concerned with sustainable development through the development of Arab societies, creating the right environment for researchers and developing initiatives to achieve that, reiterating on the importance of developing an Arab strategy for scientific research and issuing an Arab journal for scientific research, establishing scientific links and presenting various scientific awards.Dr. Omar Helmy, Advisor to the Director General of the Federation of Universities of the Islamic World, mentioned in his speech that he praises the Association’s progress and the need to strengthen cooperation with all universities in the Islamic world to develop the educational process and promote scientific research.A number of other speeches were also recorded and presented online for The Secretary-General of The Magna Carta Prof. Dr. David Locke, and Ambassador Prof. Dr. Mohamed Lotfi (former Council member of The Magna Carta) and president of the British University of Egypt. A speech on behalf of the European Universities Association by Professor Amanda Kraovot was also presented, in addition to a speech by the President of the Texas International Federation of Education, Ms. Robin Lerner.