This side event is a contribution to the recommendations made by the 32st Session of the Regional Conference for the Near East to provide support for the Regional Initiative on "Building resilience for improved food security and nutrition in the Near East and North Africa" as a vehicle through which, at country and regional levels, institutions, markets, production systems and consumption trends are strengthened in a sustainable manner.

Objectives: Discuss how to more effectively integrate production and consumption in order to support countries in their efforts to build more resilience for food security and nutrition in the NENA region; Discuss the critical need, in the countries of the NENA Region, to adopt multi-sector and multi-stakeholder approaches – from production to consumption – to address trade-offs and encourage synergies in their efforts towards sustainable development; Explore further collaboration between the countries of the NENA Region and FAO in developing a conducive, policy-relevant, and cost-effective monitoring framework for measuring progresses towards sustainable development. Organizers: This side event is jointly sponsored by FAO and the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM). FAO and CIHEAM, a regional intergovernmental organization of 13 Mediterranean Member Countries, have recently signed a Memo of Understanding (MoU) related to rural and agricultural development, food security and sustainable management of natural resources in the region, through the development of targeted actions.