This parallel event on the margins of the 22^th conference of the Parties (COP-22) of the UN Climate change Conference allowed to relaunch and further discuss on the implementation of the Strategic Action Plan (SAP) of the International Treaty for the Near East and North Africa Region (NENA Region). The event was co-organized with the International Center for Agriculture research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). 

Many of the world’s most important food crops originated in the NENA Region, but are under threat, due over use, land degradation and habitat destruction, all aggravated by the changing climatic conditions and protracted crisis in some countries. Agriculture in the Region faces many challenges, such as water scarcity, high temperatures, pests, diseases and increasing salinity.

The 2013 Ministerial Conference on Water and Drought as Agricultural Challenges in the NENA Region and Beyond, hosted by Dr Fuad bin Jaafar Al-Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Wealth of the Sultanate of Oman, in Muscat, unanimously adopted “The Muscat Ministerial Declaration on the International Treaty”, focusing on the most urgent agricultural priorities of the Region, particularly agricultural production under conditions of water scarcity, drought and climate change. Following-up on the Muscat Ministerial Declaration, a targeted Strategic Action Plan has been developed by the Steering Committee of the SAP NENA with the support of the Secretariat of the International Treaty  for the implementation of the Benefit-Sharing Fund in the Near East and North Africa Region. This Action Plan offers countries an opportunity to implement the International Treaty and its partners to address the issues of water scarcity and food security.