AMMAN — Deputizing for His Majesty King
Abdullah, Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat on Monday patronized the 9th
Global Land Forum (GLF) at the Dead Sea, according to the Jordan News Agency,
Petra.
اضافة اعلان
The four-day forum will discuss seven central themes:
land decentralization, climate crisis, youth and land-based opportunities in
rural areas, building partnerships, women's rights and equality, peace-building,
and rangelands.
Organized by the
Agriculture Ministry and the SEEDS
Jordanian youth organization, in partnership with the EU, the forum brings
together more than 400 specialists from 78 countries with the aim of exchanging
expertise in land governance and management and discussing the most important
issues and challenges facing the world, including climate change and conflicts
and their impact on the environment and land.
In a keynote speech, Hneifat announced the launch of a
national strategy to involve stakeholders in land governance and management to
form a national land alliance that would implement the strategy in the coming
years.
He lauded efforts of the
International Land Coalition (ILC), a global alliance to promote secure and equitable access to and control
over land, to establish wide recognition that land rights are central to
development-related action, as well as to governments’ commitment to setting
global targets on land governance within the Sustainable Development Goals.
He also pointed to the ILC's efforts to improve the
standards of best practices in land governance, shifting focus towards coming
up with solutions for climate change and looking for more opportunities to
empower women and youth in rural areas.
The forum, held under the theme "Pathways to
Climate Solutions," is part of the ILC's 2030 Strategy to come up with
solutions to climate and environmental crises, overcome severe inequality,
build sustainable food systems, and protect democracy and civil life, he added.
In his Speech from the Throne,
His Majesty King Abdullah underlined that Jordan's priorities are achieving national food security
and setting viable plans to advance the national economy in various sectors,
including the agricultural sector, the minister stated.
The
COVID-19 pandemic and other crises and
catastrophes caused by climate change have demonstrated the dire need to
prepare a comprehensive strategy for the land sector for governance,
sustainability and preservation.
The national committee organizing this event prepared
a strategy, adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture, for the land sector in
Jordan to govern land and formulate relevant policies and legal frameworks, he
added. The Kingdom, he noted, looks to adapt to
climate change through water
harvesting programs, water treatment techniques, saving water and utilizing it
in expanding green spaces.
Hneifat indicated that Jordan has partnered with other
countries and international organizations to address a number of crises, and
that its national plan for sustainable agriculture backs global efforts to
achieve food security, an issue that His Majesty has paid attention to early
on.
For her part, the Ambassador of the
European Union
Maria Hadjitheodosiou underscored the importance of the topics that will be
discussed in the forum, saying: "these issues concern all of us, and
Jordan, a country that faces a severe shortage of natural resources, and water
scarcity."
"Jordan is working hard to overcome these
challenges by building partnerships to turn these challenges into investment
opportunities, while involving all segments of society on an equal footing.
Moreover, Jordan has hosted thousands of refugees throughout its history, which
continues to put additional pressures on its already limited resources,"
she added.
ILC Secretariat Director Mike Taylor said: "We
are in a climate state of emergency, and while the entire global focus is on
the climate crisis, securing the rights of those who live on and subsist on
land still does not receive the attention it deserves."
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