ESCWA, through its Arab Centre for Climate Change Policies, and the Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) at the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), with support from the Government of Sweden, are organizing a series of dialogues on fostering interregional collaboration on sand and dust storms. The dialogue series provides an interregional platform for senior government officials representing different sectors to come together to discuss shared challenges and find common solutions to mitigate the impacts of sand and dust storms in a transboundary context.
Three dialogues are planned during the year 2025 to coincide with the launch of the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms (2025-2034):
- Fostering Interregional Collaboration on Sand and Dust Storms: deepening understanding (Doha, Qatar | 18-19 February 2025)
- Fostering Interregional Collaboration on Sand and Dust Storms: solutions and priority measures (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | 20-21 May 2025)
- Forum on Fostering Interregional Collaboration on Sand and Dust Storms (Beirut, Lebanon | 7-8 October 2025)
As an outcome of these three dialogues, the Interregional Initiative to Combat Sand and Dust Storms in Western Asia is elaborated and launched in 2026.
- Fostering Interregional Collaboration on Sand and Dust Storms: Operational Dialogue (Istanbul, Türkiye | 1-2 July 2026)
UN House, Beirut, Lebanon
