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Ammon News -

 Deputizing for His Majesty King Abdullah II, Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat patronized Monday the 9th triannual Global Land Forum (GLF) at the Dead Sea.

The four-day forum will discuss seven central themes: land decentralization, climate crisis, youth and land-based opportunities in rural areas, building partnerships, women's rights and equality, peace-building and rangelands.

Organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and the SEEDS Jordanian youth organization, in partnership with the European Union, the forum brings together more than 400 specialists from 78 countries with the aim of exchanging expertise in land governance and management and discussing the most important issues and challenges facing the world, including climate change and conflicts and their impact on the environment and land.

In a keynote speech, Hneifat announced the launch of a national strategy to involve stakeholders in land governance and management to form a national land alliance that would implement the strategy in the coming years.

He lauded the efforts of the International Land Coalition (ILC), a global alliance to promote secure and equitable access to and control over land, to establish wide recognition that land rights are central to development-related action, as well as governments commitment to setting global targets on land governance within the Sustainable Development Goals.

He also pointed to the ILC's efforts to improve the standards of best practices in land governance, shifting focus towards coming up with solutions for climate change and looking for more opportunities to empower women and youth in rural areas.

This forum, held under the theme "Pathways to Climate Solutions," is part of the ILC's 2030 Strategy to come up with solutions to climate and environmental crises, overcome severe inequality, build sustainable food systems, and protect democracy and civil life, he added.

In his Speech from the Throne, His Majesty King Abdullah underlined that Jordan's priorities are achieving national food security and setting viable plans to advance the national economy in various sectors, including the agricultural sector, the minister stated.

The coronavirus pandemic and other crises and catastrophes caused by climate change have demonstrated the dire need to prepare a comprehensive strategy for the land sector for governance, sustainability and preservation.

The national committee organizing this event prepared a strategy, adopted by the Ministry of Agriculture, for the land sector in Jordan to govern land and formulate relevant policies and legal frameworks, he added. The Kingdom, he noted, looks to adapt to climate change through water harvesting programs, water treatment techniques, saving water and utilizing it in expanding green spaces.

Hneifat indicated that Jordan has partnered with other countries and international organizations to address a number of crises, and that its national plan for sustainable agriculture backs global efforts to achieve food security, an issue that His Majesty has paid attention to early on.

For her part, the Ambassador of the European Union Maria Hadjitheodosiou underscored the importance of the topics that will be discussed in the forum, saying: "these issues concern all of us, and Jordan, a country that faces a severe shortage of natural resources, and water scarcity."

"Jordan is working hard to overcome these challenges by building partnerships to turn these challenges into investment opportunities, while involving all segments of society on an equal footing. Moreover, Jordan has hosted thousands of refugees throughout its history, which continues to put additional pressures on its already limited resources," she added.

The ILC's Secretariat Director Mike Taylor said: "We are in a climate state of emergency, and while the entire global focus is on the climate crisis, securing the rights of those who live on and subsist on land still does not receive the attention it deserves."