Sisi reaffirms support for UN desertification initiatives at Cairo meeting

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met Sunday with Yasmine Fouad, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), signalling Egypt’s commitment to stronger cooperation as environmental challenges grow across the Middle East and Africa.

According to a statement from the Egyptian presidency, Sisi voiced strong confidence in Fouad’s expertise and pledged full state support to ensure the success of her mandate, emphasising the importance of multilateral action at a time of intensifying global environmental crises.

The meeting, attended by Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdel-Atty, focused on the role of the convention as a legally binding international framework for addressing desertification and the impacts of drought, particularly in vulnerable regions.

Fouad praised Egypt’s efforts to combat desertification, pointing to large-scale land reclamation and agricultural projects carried out despite the country’s chronic water scarcity, the presidency said. She also commended Egypt for its adherence to the convention’s requirements, including the timely submission of national reports and the adoption of voluntary targets for land restoration.

The talks also explored ways to strengthen cooperation between Egypt and the UNCCD’s secretariat, as well as mechanisms to better support member states, especially in Africa and the Arab world, where environmental pressures are growing and closely linked to development challenges.

Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English