Widening wellbeing gaps remain among the most pressing developmental issues for Saudi Arabia and the Arab region, undermining economies, the social fabric, and environmental sustainability. Complex policy solutions are needed, yet our knowledge of pre-existing and emerging inequalities is inadequate. At the heart of Agenda 2030 is an emphasis on human development, with particular attention to SDG 16: to promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels. The SDGs provide a normative agenda for all, and as a result also provide a strong starting point to discuss moving beyond GDP – to reconsider what it is that we should measure, and how to use that measurement in order to achieve the policy objectives that we are setting for ourselves.
In order to explore these issues, UNESCO and the King Khalid Foundation (KKF) of Saudi Arabia convened a joint conference on 23 September 2019. The vision of KKF, which was founded in 2001, is to develop a thriving society in Saudi Arabia by tackling inequality, empowering the vulnerable, and building sustainable solutions. Building in particular on the experience of UNESCO’s Inclusive Policy Lab (IPL), the conference discussed the steps required to move towards a Saudi society with equal opportunities, striving towards prosperity, and how progress in Saudi Arabia could contribute to favourable development in the Arab region as a whole.
During the event, a Saudi National Framework was introduced to highlight and compare current prosperity measures to those of the future. Future prosperity was particularly focused on human wealth – such as skills, education, health, and social wealth – which includes Saudi Arabian residents’ participation, sense of belonging, and trust within society.
The event engaged high-level decision makers, policy experts, and researchers from the KKF, UNESCO Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST), UNEP, the World Bank, and the UAE Embassy in an open discussion for the realization of inclusive policies that are enabled by prosperity data beyond GDP, with a focus on practical policy solutions and country experiences.
A panel discussion with keynote speakers highlighted the importance of a participatory process in decision making at the national level and the power of advocacy in making that process inclusive, the benefit of using a benchmark of countries and communities that are similar to the one whose progress is being measured, and the importance of innovation when moving from measuring GDP to measuring new indicators of human and social wealth – for which those conventional measures of progress have failed.
The event concluded by recognizing there is still much work to be done, and that national frameworks must be multidimensional and forward-looking so as to continue to develop alternative capitals and their metrics for the realization of an inclusive society. The King Khalid Foundation and UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab plan to foster a long-term partnership towards 2030 and beyond to tackle inequality, and build a more prosperous future.