The Association of Palestinian Local Authorities (APLA) launched the Sustainable Development Stories in Palestine initiative, in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Ministry of Education (MoE). This step establishes a new national approach that connects education to local development and strengthens the presence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within the school environment. The initiative is implemented in Palestine as a pilot phase within a regional ESCWA initiative applied in several Arab countries. 

The initiative comes within the framework of APLA’s central role in leading national efforts to localize SDGs by building partnerships and employing educational and cultural tools to instill community awareness of the values of participation and responsibility. The initiative targets students aged 8-16 through illustrated stories and artistic and cultural activities inspired by ESCWA Tales, which includes five illustrated story collections addressing environmental and humanitarian issues that are translated into student-led projects and initiatives implemented within schools and local communities.

In this context, Eng. Ohoud Enayah, Manager of APLA Programs and Policies, explained that the initiative “represents an integrated framework for shaping the awareness of the new generation about development issues through storytelling, art, and collective work. It links the school to its local surroundings and makes education a springboard for building more aware and capable communities for change.” Enayah pointed out that APLA, in cooperation with the MoE, would continue to work on expanding the experience to include additional schools in the future. 

This activity was carried out during the first orientation meeting of the initiative, held via videoconference, with the participation of Hamed Abu Mukhou, Director General of Activities at the MoE. In his remarks, Abu Mukhou stressed the importance of the project for the participating schools as a pilot phase, commending alignment of the stories’ content with Palestinian educational values. In addition, Wafa Al-Bizri and Jinan Mousa from ESCWA gave a presentation on the project’s objectives and implementation mechanism in the Arab region, reviewing the experiences of participating countries and ESCWA’s role in supporting the localization of the 2030 Development Agenda through education.