“Planning for transition and sustainable development: A group of 15 Syrian experts are in FAO headquarters for a two-weeks training on natural resources assessment,” Eduardo Mansur, Director, CBL, commented referring to the training that came to a close last week. On 3-14 September, Syrian experts from different ministries and organizations, including the Ministry of Water Resources and the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research, came together to learn about tools and methodologies to enhance the monitoring and reconstruction of natural resources in Syria.

In his opening remarks, Dominique Burgeon, SP5 Leader and TCE Director, referred to FAO’s “aim to help rural people in Syria, to protect and, whenever possible, start building back their livelihoods in a more resilient way.” He sees the training as a “way to gain a better understanding of the impact of the conflict on the agricultural sector, and to define how best the Organization can support Syria rebuilding its critical food systems.” 

The two weeks training offered a space for learning and discussion on the advancement of sustainable natural resources management in Syria. Topics included sustainable land, soil and water management, SDG 6, land cover classification, and various tools and methodologies including AQUASTAT, Water Productivity Open-access portal (WaPOR), Agriculture Stress Index System (ASIS), Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), Land Degradation Assessment in Dryland (LADA) and OpenForis.

Rosa Karmoka, Researcher, General Organization for Remote Sensing, was one of the participants, and commented, “While participants have different backgrounds and represent different organizations, we are all experts in natural resources. This training provided us with a unique opportunity to present and discuss our expertise, but most importantly, acquire new tools and practices. We hope to continue working closely with FAO in the future.”

The training was organized within the project on Technical cooperation for long-term capacity building for Syrian experts - training for all. This project is funded by the Government of Japan and is a joint UN project with the aim to maintain and improve Syrian human capital in various fields by providing multi-sectoral training opportunities to keep up and upgrade the skills and knowledge of Syrian women and men for mid- and long-term resilience building.

Manhal Alhusin Alzoubi, Director of natural resources research administration, General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research also participated in the training. “The training was very useful. With the seven-year Syrian crisis, most experts either have left the country or have not been able to keep pace with new technologies and innovations. By attending this training session, we had the opportunity to update our skills and expertise, and transfer such knowledge to other colleagues once back in Syria.” 

To learn more, watch the interview session featuring some of the Syrian experts who attended the training.