Looking Back, Moving Forward: Progressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the Asia-Pacific Region
Sydney, Australia, 6 – 8 December 2023
2023 marks the beginning of the second half of the 2015-2030 timeframe set by the United Nations to achieve 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include ending poverty, improving education and health outcomes, reducing inequality, and tackling climate change.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the impacts of climate change, and increasing armed conflicts and refugee numbers, pose significant challenges to achieving the SDGs. The 2023 OMEP conference provides a timely opportunity to reflect on what has been achieved in the Asia-Pacific region, and what still needs to be done in policy and in practice to realise these goals.
OMEP’s mission to advance the right of all children to quality early childhood education is strongly related to SDG 4: ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. This conference will showcase how work towards quality early childhood education can advance not only SDG 4 but many of the other SDGs as well.
The conference will feature five strands:
- Providing accessible, equitable, and inclusive quality early education for all young children
- Supporting the supply and sustainability of early childhood teachers and educators
- Fostering the health and wellbeing of young children, their families, and their communities
- Preserving, revitalising, and promoting Indigenous languages
- Improving action on climate change and environmental sustainability
