Nobel laureates and experts urge joint action on world’s socio-economic problems

Nobel laureates and experts gathered at a major conference here have urged the world’s leaders, organizations, and individuals, to work together to solve the planet’s pressing socio-economic and health challenges, much like they did around the COVID-19 pandemic.

The appeal was made during a panel discussion titled “Uniting the World: Is a Common Cause What We Miss?” on Sunday, at the 2022 Hegra Conference of Nobel Laureates & Friends.

The gathering brings together Nobel laureates of peace, economics, literature, physics, chemistry, physiology and medicine, with social and political leaders, to discuss the world’s leading social problems and offer solutions to improve the state of humanity.

The discussion was held at Maraya Concert Hall in AlUla and included Maha Al-Senan, Shoura Council member; Prof. Karen Hallberg, 2019 L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science laureate; and Prof. Mohan Munasinghe, 2007 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

During the discussion, Al-Senan said that in a changing world individual communication has become effective and should be used to strengthen joint action on the world’s challenges. “We must take this into consideration. Today, we can understand individuals from different cultures and realize that we are alike. Our problems are alike, our cases are alike,” she told Arab News.

“I think in this era ... we should speak from one person to another, from one nation as individuals to others to make ourselves more visible, to show that we have common interests,” she said.

“We have common problems (so) that if we have a way to deal with this problem, we can share that knowledge with others instead of always going through governments. This is a trend that’s happening, it’s already there. As researchers, we have to study that, not always to focus on impact and actions of governments only,” she added.

Al-Senan used the Kingdom as an example, and said that in the past, people thought Saudi Arabia was a closed nation and that its, “people were not welcoming. They think about what is happening today, dealing with individuals face to face either through tourists, people who are coming to work in the Kingdom, or through social platforms … nations have known Saudi Arabia through the individuals,” she said.

“And now they have a different perspective about our nation, about our society. Now people are seeing us in a different manner,” she added.

Hallberg referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as an example of collective responsibility and the world working together against the pandemic.

“Worldwide, the scientists could very quickly reach a vaccine and this was fundamental to really overcome the virus and the pandemic,” she told Arab News.

Kholoud Al-Manea, destination management manager at the Royal Commission for AlUla, said region has always been a crossroads of civilization where people have gathered to share their intellectual knowledge, solutions and ideas.

“The main objective of this event ... is to create decisive outcomes that will (become) tangible initiatives that we will be implementing in the next 14 months in AlUla,” she said.