First Arab hosting of UNESCO's Global Forum on AI Ethics: Riyadh brings together 194 countries to discuss funding, governance and accountability of government services

Saudi capital Riyadh is preparing to host the fourth edition of UNESCO's Global Forum on AI Ethics from 14 to 17 September 2026, marking the first convening of this international platform in the Arab world, with participation of ministers, experts, policymakers and representatives from 194 countries, aiming to establish implementation mechanisms that protect human rights and societies in the rapidly evolving digital space.

The Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) is organizing the event in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in cooperation with the International Center for AI Research and Ethics (ICAIRE), and in coordination with the National Committee for Education, Culture and Science.This organization represents a step toward moving ethical discussions from academic theorizing halls to direct institutional work frameworks.This comes at a time when states are seeking to translate international recommendations into policies that are implementable and legally and regulatorily accountable.

The forum’s agenda features more than 30 sessions and workshops with over 100 international speakers, focusing on measuring the progress member states have made in implementing the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence since its historic adoption in 2021. The deliberations do not stop at reviewing general principles; they delve deeply into the institutional, financial and technical obstacles that executive bodies face when turning those principles into effective regulations and operational practices within critical sectors.

The Readiness Assessment Methodology (RAM) leads the technical discussion topics at the forum, serving as a standardised tool used by UNESCO to gauge the organisational and institutional readiness of states when adopting AI technologies, and to help them identify legislative gaps and investment opportunities.The sessions also raise the file of AI governance financing, capacity building, and the examination of accountability standards in government services.This is to ensure that the growing reliance on algorithms does not lead to the absence of human oversight or undermine the principles of fairness and transparency in automated administrative decisions.

This transformation carries direct operational implications for institutions and tech teams in the Gulf, Egypt and the Arab region; the shift of UNESCO standards into actual application means that government agencies and companies that develop or supply intelligent systems will face stricter compliance requirements. It requires data and cloud-solution managers to re-audit training mechanisms and examine model biases, and to build transparent audit logs that demonstrate algorithmic safety and conformity with approved ethical specifications before deploying them in public services or business sectors.

Through its expanded sessions, the forum seeks to break the centralisation of international standard-setting and involve various regions and developing countries in defining global governance rules, thereby ensuring that unilateral frameworks that ignore developmental and cultural diversity are not imposed on societies, and establishing a new phase in which technological innovations are balanced with the protection of individuals’ digital rights.