Iraq leads Arab push for water security at UN
On Wednesday, Iraq's Permanent Mission to the United Nations hosted a high-level Arab coordination meeting to prepare for two major UN summits on water scarcity and sandstorms.
According to a statement from Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting was chaired by Iraq's Permanent Representative to the UN, Abbas Kazem Obeid, and in cooperation with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
In his remarks, Obeid emphasized the importance of a unified Arab stance in confronting shared environmental challenges, particularly in the areas of water security and sand and dust storms, noting that over 90% of the region's land is classified as severely arid, with 13 Arab countries facing extreme water scarcity. 'Human activity contributes to roughly one-third of the region's sand and dust storms,' he pointed out.
The statement added that representatives of Arab countries thanked Iraq for the initiative and praised its diplomatic mission for strengthening joint Arab action in addressing growing environmental and development challenges.
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