Journalists and Writers Foundation at UN ECOSOC annual meeting

Journalists and Writers Foundation attended UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) annual meeting, in attendance of which were ambassadors, ministers or other senior officials of UN member countries, in Geneva. In his speech at the meeting, JWF’s Abant Platform Secretary General Huseyin Hurmali detailed on the contributions of the educational institutions inspired by JWF Honorary President Fethullah Gulen to sustainable development, promoting education, pluralism and peace building.

The potential contributions of science, culture and innovations to UN Millennium Development Goals were discussed at the meeting. On behalf of the foundation, Abant Platform Secretary-General Huseyin Hurmali said access to a free and equal education is vital to all societies. Grand development goals can only be achieved with the contributions of educated individuals of diverse socio-economic backgrounds and who are determined to build a prosperous future for everyone. I would like introduce you to an innovative education model pioneered by the efforts of educators and entrepreneurs who are inspired by the Turkish intellectual Fethullah Gulen. A civil movement was born around Mr. Gulen’s belief that the most effective way to serve humanity is education. The private institutions founded by the initiatives of this movement have expanded into 140 countries -predominantly the developing countries- in 20 years.

Noting that this education model is remarkable not only due to the significance it attaches to science, math and technology but also its function of raising students as socially and environmentally responsible world citizens, Hurmali further said, “This model aims, above all, to contribute to the peaceful coexistence of diverse cultures. These schools function as “peace islands” in conflict-ridden zones while they enhance pluralism and dialogue in peaceful environments.

Hurmali said the schools of this model, based on a secular principle, are operating fully in line with their host countries’ educational curricula. “These schools admitting students from highly diverse cultures recognize their students’ ethnic, religious and cultural identities and raise them as citizens of the future world. They provide full access to scientific and technological innovation supplies. Besides, the students at these schools are educated in a way that enables them to improve themselves in literature, arts, foreign languages and various social skills in order to be leaders of sustainable development in their countries and the world.

JWF pioneered the foundation of three schools in Bosnia Herzegovina during the war in 1995. These schools achieved embracing Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian students under the same roof while the war persisted. Through the quality education they offered, the schools in question remarkably contributed to the formation of human capital, which a war-torn country is extremely in need of for a sustainable development. Currently, a total of 10 educational institutions -five high schools, four primary schools and a university- are operating in Bosnia Herzegovina.

To conclude, we would like to propose that this innovative and secular education model is utilized by UN to reach its ‘millennium development goals’ in science and technology, and recognized as a successful example with its contributions to the world peace,” Hurmali said.

Published [in Turkish] on Cihan, 4 July 2013, Thursday