Forum on Fostering Interregional Collaboration on Sand and Dust Storms
7–8 October 2025 | Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
The United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms is co-organizing the Forum on Fostering Interregional Collaboration on Sand and Dust Storms in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and the Government of Sweden in support of the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms (2025-2035).
The forum is implemented within the framework of activities planned by the Coalition’s Working Group on Regional Collaboration and Mediation and will be held from 7 to 8 October 2025 at the United Nations House in Beirut, Lebanon.
The forum aims to foster regional and interregional discussion on joint actions and cooperative responses for combating sand and dust storms. To do so, the forum will facilitate strategic dialogue across sectors, connecting ministries of environment, health, agriculture and transport with expert institutions and non-governmental stakeholders to exchange lessons learned and foster regional collaboration in support the main areas of work called for in the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms that call for efforts to: • Accelerate and sustain action towards the mobilization of means of implementation; • Scale up international cooperation and collaboration in science, research and innovation at the local, national and regional levels; and • Foster public-private and multi-stakeholder partnership.
The meeting will also feature lessons learned from the implementation of joint projects and initiatives and opportunities for strengthening collaboration to address the growing challenges posed by sand and dust storms.
The forum is organized back-to-back with the 11th Meeting of the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, which will take place on 9 October 2025 in Beirut.
