RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has achieved most of the 17 goals for comprehensive sustainable development of the UN, thus surpassing the achievements of the UN Agenda 2030.
The success in reaching those goals are a result of the structural reforms adopted by the government of King Salman on many development levels including social, financial, administration and productive.
The announcement was made in a speech by Abdullah Al-Marwani, assistant undersecretary for Planning and National Policies at the Ministry of Economy and Planning during the Second Forum of Economic and Social Council on financing for development. The forum was held at the UN headquarters this week.
Al-Marwani said the Kingdom is working in the direction of development and has not spared any efforts to develop the economy of the country toward further progress and prosperity.
He pointed out that Vision 2030, especially the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020, aims to achieve the UN objectives by encouraging and creating more investment initiatives in human capital, infrastructure, education, health and alternative energy to diversify the economic base, and promote social gains from comprehensive development.
“The Kingdom has already achieved most of the overall goals of sustainable development of the 17 goals of the UN.
Sometimes these achievements exceeded the goals of the UN Agenda 2030 with the average annual economic growth of the Kingdom amounting to about 3.6 percent, higher than the global average,” said Al-Marwani.
He added: “In addition, the overall financing is progressing at a steady pace where the domestic credit ratio provided by the financial sector increased from 1.8 percent in 2010 to 20.8 percent in 2015. One of the most important goals achieved in the health sector in the Kingdom is life expectancy at birth where this has increased from 72.5 in 2000 to 74.5 in 2015.”
Saudi Arabia confirms its achievement of UN sustainable goals
Saudi Arabia confirms its achievement of UN sustainable goals
‘Cake not hate’ campaign becomes ‘Dates not hate’ in Madinah
- Dan said he was very impressed by Saudi hospitality and that his family was warmly welcomed
- He said being in Madinah exposed him to the true diversity of Islam
LONDON: A British autistic and non-verbal boy who has been visiting UK mosques and distributing cakes to promote solidarity amid an increase in far-right support in the country has taken his message of love to Madinah.
Joshua Harris, or “The Joshie-Man” as the 12-year-old is known to his social media fans, has handed out hundreds of his baked goods to worshipers at mosques in major British cities over the last few months.
The “Cake not hate” campaign came about after an Islamophobic attack on a mosque in his home city of Peterborough in October 2025.
Harris and his father visited Masjid Darassalaam, the mosque that was targeted, with cakes that the boy had baked and distributed them to the congregation soon after the attack. Since then, Harris has visited dozens of mosques in the UK.
On a recent trip to the Middle East, he and his father visited Madinah. In a local twist that pays tribute to the holy city’s famous date varieties including ajwa and ambar, Harris handed out dates to people in the courtyard of the Prophet’s Mosque. The “Cake not hate” campaign became “Dates not hate” for Saudi Arabia.
“He was greeted really, really warmly. There were some really touching moments where people were kissing his hands and his head. It was really lovely,” his father, Dan Harris, said.
Dan, the founder of global charity Neurodiversity in Business, said being in Madinah exposed him to the true diversity of Islam.
“We met people from all around the world. It was amazing. It’s like the United Nations there, you get people from different countries and it just goes to show you that the Muslim community, or the Ummah more generally, is not a homogeneous group,” he said.
“We saw people from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and it was really interesting for us.”
Dan said his visit to Madinah, considered the second holiest city in Islam after Makkah for Muslims, was “profound and life-changing.”
He added: “I would say it’s my favourite city in the world due to the peace and tranquillity I felt there.”
Dan added that he was very impressed by Saudi hospitality: “Everywhere we went, people were taking down my number and insisting that we come for dinner, insisting they pick us up from the location. They were extremely attentive to Joshie as well, making sure his needs were met. We felt a great sense of welcome, something Saudi Arabia is known for.”
