His Majesty King Abdullah II met on Tuesday with Khaled El Enany, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The meeting, held in New York on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly and attended by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, covered ways of strengthening cooperation between Jordan and UNESCO in the fields of cultural and natural heritage conservation, particularly in light of Jordan’s preparations for the 2030 millennium celebrations to commemorate two thousand years since the baptism of Jesus Christ, at the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ (Bethany Beyond the Jordan).

His Majesty expressed his appreciation to UNESCO for inscribing the Aqaba Marine Reserve on the UNESCO World Heritage List this year, marking it as Jordan’s first World Heritage listing under solely natural criteria, and which will support the protection of biodiversity and efforts to tackle the impact of climate change.

The meeting also addressed existing cooperation in the education sector, particularly in the areas of education system reform, vocational and technical education and training, digital transformation, and capacity building.

Speaking about the repercussions of regional escalations, the King highlighted the importance of UNESCO’s role in protecting the heritage and authentic character of the city of Jerusalem in the face of Israeli violations, emphasising the need to step up international efforts in this regard.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and Director of the Office of His Majesty Alaa Batayneh attended the meeting.