Dubai:

Recommendations for the creation of an international alliance to support the development of oases

A meeting on sustainable oases, organized on Saturday on the sidelines of COP 28 in Dubai, at the initiative of the National Agency for the Development of Oasis Zones and the Argan Tree (ANDZOA), was recommended the creation of an international alliance to support sustainable development of oases and face the effects of climate change.

Held in collaboration with the United Nations United Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), this meeting focused on the governance of the "sustainable oases initiative", was an opportunity to highlight the role of this alliance in strengthening and promoting research multidisciplinary and the exchange of knowledge around oases.

The meeting, in which the The Agency for Agricultural Development (ADA), the Mohammed VI Foundation for Environmental Protection, the International Center for Agricultural Research in Arid Areas (ICARDA), as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations, also highlighted emphasis on the role of this alliance in mobilizing funding intended for research and the sustainable development of oases.

The participants in this meeting also recommended the creation of an international body which brings together within a general assembly the members of governmental and non-governmental bodies, international organizations and all parties concerned by the oases, and which is equipped with a board of directors, groups of work and a general secretariat to ensure the functioning of the alliance.

They further highlighted the importance of recommendations of the scientific workshop on the "sustainable oases initiative", held on September 19 and 20, 2023 in Rabat, while expressing their full support for this initiative which focuses on three areas of intervention: recognition, preservation and development.

The meeting also reviewed the efforts undertaken to promote the "sustainable oases" initiative, launched during COP22 in Marrakech.