The Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Arab Centre for Climate Change Policies (ACCCP) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), in the context of the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, organized a webinar on 7 July 2021 on enhancing understanding and expanding inter-regional and regional cooperation on sand and dust storms.

This discussion aimed to share national experiences and showcase examples of transboundary cooperation and highlight potential for collaboration across different regions.     

 Speakers

• Carol Chouchani Cherfane, Director, Arab Centre for Climate Change Policies, ESCWA
• Letizia Rossano, Director, Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
• Feras Ziadat, Chair, United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, Food and Agriculture Organization
• Amin Shamseddini, Programme Officer, Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
• Marlene Ann Tomaszkiewicz, Regional Advisor for GIS for Climate Change Analysis, Arab Centre for Climate Change Policies (ACCCP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)
• Alexander Baklanov, Science Officer, Science and Innovation Department, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
• Sara Basart, Postdoctoral Researcher, Barcelona Dust Forecast Center, Barcelona Supercomputing Center
• Nicholas Middleton, Fellow in Physical Geography, St Anne’s College, University of Oxford and Sand and Dust Storms Expert
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Countries Experiences - Panel Discussion

• Sayed Abdul Basit Rahmani, Senior Adviser to State Minister, State Ministry for Disaster Management and Humanitarian affairs, Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, Afghanistan
• Haythem Belghrissi, Head of Short and Medium Numerical Predictions Section, National Institute of Meteorology, Republic of Tunisia
• Abbas Golriz, Director of the Department of International Environmental Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamic Republic of Iran
• Hassan Aldashti, Meteorologist, Climatology Superintendent, Department of Meteorology, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, State of Kuwait

Moderators:

• Mostafa Mohaghegh, Senior Coordinator, Asian and Pacific Centre for the Development of Disaster Information Management (APDIM), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
• Tarek Sadek, First Economic Affairs Officer/Climate Change Officer, Arab Centre for Climate Change Policies (ACCCP), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

Below are the presentations and the concept note.