The purpose of the meeting was to present and review the outcomes of the SDG4-Education 2030 High-Level Steering Committee on transforming education, which had convened at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in December 2022.

At the meeting, participants discussed perspectives on the implementation of the education strategy, translating national commitments into actions, the mechanisms for implementing the education strategy, enhancing the monitoring and support of education in alignment with Member States' priorities, the importance of youth participation in policy design, conducting comprehensive national dialogues to drive progress in education, and topics such as lifelong learning support, digital transformation, and the involvement of civil society organizations to build Member States' capacity to attend to needs. The completion rate of the work in the Thematic Action Tracks determined by the Transforming Education Summit and standard values were also discussed.

Participants tackled the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on the achievement of SDG4, the UN Global Proficiency Framework for Reading, pre-primary school enrollment rates, gender gaps in secondary education, teacher qualifications, and government spending on education. Noting that the UN has added other criteria, such as environmental education, digital transformation, youth participation, and annual reporting to UNESCO for measuring and monitoring progress towards SDG4 in each country and to benefit from the experiences of the participating countries.

At the conclusion of the meeting, participants underlined the importance of holding a series of meetings with Member States, Sherpa group of the Arab region and stakeholders in order to strengthen their approach to SDG4, fulfill their commitments and enhance the educational process in the Arab region.