Healthy diets for a growing, increasingly urban population in the presence of water scarcity and advancing climate change necessitate urgent changes and transformations in the agrifood systems of the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region.  

In this light, the 36th Session of the FAO Regional Conference for the Near East (NERC 36) is held this year under the theme " Recover and Restart: Innovations for better, greener and more resilient agrifood systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals”. 

#NERC36 is hosted by the Republic of Iraq. This year’s edition of the Conference is held in two segments; the Senior Officers Meeting that already took place from 10 to 13 January 2022 through a virtual modality, while the Ministerial Session will take place through a hybrid modality on 7 and 8 February 2022. 

The Ministerial Session of the 36th Regional Conference for the Near East (#NERC36) is open to all FAO members in the Near East and North Africa region, representatives of the United Nations Bodies and specialized agencies and to selected observers.