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Saudi Arabia Asserts Global Standing as Host of Gulf, Arab, Int’l Summits

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia Asserts Global Standing as Host of Gulf, Arab, Int’l Summits

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomes GCC leaders and representatives during the 18th consultative meeting of the leaders of the GCC & the Gulf summit with the central Asian countries C5, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 19, 2023. (SPA)

As the 18th Consultative Meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders and the Summit of the GCC and Central Asian States convened in Jeddah on Wednesday, Saudi Arabia logged another exceptional number to Gulf summits it has recently hosted.

This is in addition to the summits beyond the scope of the GCC, such as the Arab, Islamic, international, and emergency summits.

Since December 9, 2015, the Kingdom has hosted more than 15 Gulf summits, and today, with the convening of the 18th GCC Consultative Meeting and the Gulf-Central Asian Summit, the tally reaches an impressive 17.

These gatherings have varied in nature, ranging from regular summits to consultative meetings and emergency sessions.

Moreover, they have seen participation not only from GCC members but also from nations beyond the council’s borders.

Regardless of emergency summits or consultative meetings, Saudi Arabia has emerged as the leading Gulf nation in hosting regular Gulf summits, with a total of 43.

Out of these, Saudi Arabia has hosted 12, followed by Bahrain and Kuwait with seven each, Qatar and the UAE with six each and Oman with five..

In May 2017, the Saudi capital, Riyadh, hosted the “Arab-US Summit,” where leaders gathered to discuss efforts to combat terrorism and halt its funding and activities.

Following that historic event, the Kingdom went on to host five other notable Arab summits: the “Arab Dhahran Summit” in April 2018, the “Makkah Summit in Support of Jordan” in June 2018, the “Emergency Arab Makkah Summit” in May 2019, the “Arab-Chinese Summit” in December 2022, and the “Arab Jeddah Summit” in May of 2023.

Observers note that Saudi Arabia’s hosting of international and regional summits is not detached from the Kingdom’s drive to diversify its economy and engage with the world by hosting major events.

However, it also signifies the crucial strategic role the nation plays in its surroundings and the global arena.

Over the past decade, Saudi Arabia has actively taken on this role, partly through leading international and regional parties in finding solutions and discussing crises. Additionally, it has hosted events that involve active regional and international participants.

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Lebanon's Public Schools Reopen amid War and Displacement

Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
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Lebanon's Public Schools Reopen amid War and Displacement

Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)
Children playing in a shelter center for displaced people in the town of Marwaniyah in South Lebanon (AP)

In the quiet seaside town of Amchit, 45 minutes north of Beirut, public schools are finally in session again, alongside tens of thousands of internally displaced people who have made some of them a makeshift shelter.

As Israeli strikes on Lebanon escalated in September, hundreds of schools in Lebanon were either destroyed or closed due to damage or security concerns, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Of around 1,250 public schools in Lebanon, 505 schools have also been turned into temporary shelters for some of the 840,000 people internally displaced by the conflict, according to the Lebanese education ministry.

Last month, the ministry started a phased reopening, allowing 175,000 students - 38,000 of whom are displaced - to return to a learning environment that is still far from normal, Reuters reported.

At Amchit Secondary Public School, which now has 300 enrolled students and expects more as displaced families keep arriving, the once-familiar spaces have transformed to accommodate new realities.

Two-and-a-half months ago, the school was chosen as a shelter, school director Antoine Abdallah Zakhia said.

Today, laundry hangs from classroom windows, cars fill the playground that was once a bustling area, and hallways that used to echo with laughter now serve as resting areas for families seeking refuge.

Fadia Yahfoufi, a displaced woman living temporarily at the school, expressed gratitude mixed with longing.

"Of course, we wish to go back to our homes. No one feels comfortable except at home," she said.

Zeina Shukr, another displaced mother, voiced her concerns for her children's education.

"This year has been unfair. Some children are studying while others aren't. Either everyone studies, or the school year should be postponed," she said.

- EDUCATION WON'T STOP

OCHA said the phased plan to resume classes will enrol 175,000 students, including 38,000 displaced children, across 350 public schools not used as shelters.

"The educational process is one of the aspects of resistance to the aggression Lebanon is facing," Education Minister Abbas Halabi told Reuters

Halabi said the decision to resume the academic year was difficult as many displaced students and teachers were not psychologically prepared to return to school.

In an adjacent building at Amchit Secondary Public School, teachers and students are adjusting to a compressed three-day week, with seven class periods each day to maximize learning time.

Nour Kozhaya, a 16-year-old Amchit resident, remains optimistic. "Lebanon is at war, but education won't stop. We will continue to pursue our dreams," she said.

Teachers are adapting to the challenging conditions.

"Everyone is mentally exhausted ... after all this war is on all of us," Patrick Sakr, a 38-year-old physics teacher, said.

For Ahmad Ali Hajj Hassan, a displaced 17-year-old from the Bekaa region, the three-day school week presents a challenge, but not a deterrent.

"These are the conditions. We can study despite them," he said.