Roeen Rahmani, Kardan University's chancellor, met Dr. Karima Hamid Faryabi, the Minister of Economy, on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, to extend bilateral cooperation between Kardan University and the Ministry of Economy, and create joint forces for advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Afghanistan.
In the meeting, both sides discussed bilateral areas of cooperation between Kardan University and the Ministry of Economy, ranging from the launch of roundtable discussions on the government's national documents and advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to the creation of tailored capacity building programs that respond to the needs of the government sectors and the market.
Dr. Karima Hamid Faryabi stressed the universities' vital role to add high-value inputs to the government's national documents and decisions to ensure their responsiveness and suitability for Afghanistan. Hence, she suggested roundtable discussions to analyze Afghanistan's National Peace and Development Framework (ANPDF) at Kardan University among the governmental officials, academia, and University students. She mentioned that this kind of program is particularly significant to raise the awareness of the national priorities and plans among the citizens and the University students who will be the future leaders of Afghanistan.
She also added that the Ministry of Economy (MoE) is interested in proposing potentially essential areas in the form of thesis titles for the University's bachelor's and master's degrees graduating students to research and help with the appropriate decision-making and policy formulations for the ministry.
Mr. Mohammad Nabi Sroosh, Deputy Minister of Technical Affairs at the Ministry of Economy, highlighted the importance of a collaborative way of advancing the SDGs in Afghanistan and that the universities can make contributions of high value in this regard to create frameworks, applied guidelines, and offer suitable policy options for the government. Mr. Sroosh also added that the MoE would shortly start the "One University, One SDG" program with the universities across Afghanistan and pointed out the significant role Kardan University could have in this area as a leading SDGs University in Afghanistan.
Mr. Roeen Rahmani mentioned that Kardan is the first University in Afghanistan ranked by the Times Higher Education for its impacts and contributions to achieve the SDGs in Afghanistan and; hence, the University is ready for any assistance with the MoE to achieve the SDGs in Afghanistan. Mr. Mirwais Nahzat, Kardan University's Chief Operating Officer, mentioned that Kardan University is planning to launch the "National Conference on SDGs in Afghanistan" shortly and that the University is firmly committed to the SDGs and the sustainable development of Afghanistan.
Finally, Dr. Faryabi stated that the MoE plans to initiate and fundraise for several capacity-building programs for the Ministry of Economy's employees at Kardan University. She mentioned that the MoE also wants to work with Kardan University to plan tailored master's degree programs deemed vital for Afghanistan yet not available in the country.
Kardan, as the first globally ranked University in Afghanistan for its impact, with a team of brilliant researchers and academic staff, and the students of high potential and talents feels itself responsible for producing knowledge, providing working inputs for the national decisions and documents, and paving ways of learning and capacity buildings for the unprivileged section of the society.