FAO and partners gear up for Land and Water Days

9 July 2018, Cairo, Egypt – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has hosted the first preparatory meeting for the second Near East and North Africa (NENA) Land and Water Days, in attendance of numerous key partners.

The Land and Water Days are jointly convened by FAO and its partners as part of the efforts aimed at reaching effective and lasting impacts for land and water actions on the ground. The event is an opportunity to review policies, technologies and approaches to secure sustained improvements in support to activities on the ground and foster exchanges of experience amongst countries in the region.

The first conference dates back five years where it was held in Amman, Jordan in 2013, when the Water Scarcity Regional Initiative was launched.

“I believe it is now timely to hold the second NENA Land and Water Days to review the progress made, reflect on the lessons learned so far, account for the changes in development targets and challenges, and elaborate an outlook for the coming years, while examining how to further strengthen partnerships,” said Abdessalam OuldAhmed, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa.

During the preparatory meeting, partners discussed key priority areas and topics that are to be highlighted in the conference, outlining its objective and outcomes. The conference will focus on water accounting and strategic planning of water resources, ground water management, agriculture water productivity, non-conventional water resources, climate change, and drought management, amongst several other important topics.

During the conference, FAO is set to launch its online Water Scarcity ‘Regional Knowledge Platform’, an initiative in collaboration with 10 other leading organizations that will serve as a wealth of data, maps, projections and models.