The Department of Science and Scientific Research held, on December 25-26, 2023, in Aden, Yemen, a workshop on “National capacity-building and environmental impact assessment of anti-desertification projects”.
The workshop was held under the patronage of the Yemeni Minister of Education and Chairman of the Yemeni National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, H.E. Mr. Tariq Al-Akbari, and in collaboration with the Yemeni National Commission.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Sally Hassan Hattab, Workshop Coordinator and Representative of ALECSO, conveyed the greetings of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director-General of ALECSO, and Dr. Mohamed Sanad Abu Darwish, Director of Science and Scientific Research. She underlined the importance of developing new strategic visions to best meet challenges related to resource protection and sustainable development. She called on experts and all workshop participants to deepen discussions and come out with recommendations aligned with ALECSO’s aspirations for the development of Arab capacities in the environmental field.
Through this workshop, ALECSO seeks to highlight the environmental and climate challenges facing the sustainability of environmental resources in Yemen, especially desertification and drought, and their impact on biodiversity and on the socio-economic situation of the country. The workshop is also designed to build capacity among Yemeni decision-makers and officials in the environmental and agricultural fields.
International and local experts offered presentations on the theme of the workshop which brought together thirty (30) participants from various Yemeni governorates.
The workshop came out with a set of recommendations, including in particular:
- Calling on ALECSO, jointly with the Yemeni National Commission for Education, Science and Culture, to hold workshops on capacity-building in the field of negotiation and multi-level planning on the issue of desertification;
- Calling on ALECSO to establish a mechanism for communication with relevant experts to ensure technical support for national efforts to promote sustainable environmental and agricultural development in Yemen;
- Encouraging competent official bodies in Yemen to develop national mechanisms for collecting and evaluating environmental data and supporting sustainable environmental management efforts, in cooperation with specialized international organizations.
- Calling on the Yemeni specialized authorities to expand the integrated use of modern technologies, such as remote sensing, geographic information systems, and artificial intelligence, in order to monitor and manage water and land resources, and to establish an early warning system to confront risks resulting from natural and human factors.
- Calling on the scientific and research community in Yemen to adopt scientific initiatives to study the implementation of projects for the sustainable use of environmental resources, especially those concerned with desertification, biodiversity preservation, and climate change.
- Encouraging Yemeni official authorities to adopt national initiatives aimed at integrating the efforts of the various national sectors for sustainable environmental development in the country’s environmental regions.
