UN ESCWA, now headquartered in Beirut, was established in 1973 to stimulate economic activity in its member countries and strengthen cooperation in promoting development. APN has forged a strong partnership with ESCWA through collaborative activities and contribution in expert consultation meetings, both as a speaker and participant. In these meetings, APN provides feedback to the High-level Political Forum that tracks the implementation of sustainable development goals.

Furthermore, APN and ESCWA were selected as Co-chairs for the Arab League Working Group for Eliminating Hunger in Conflict-Inflicted Countries. 

Activities:

• During a session held by ESCWA on 20 October 2021, APN called for the application of the Triple Nexus Approach to achieve food security during conflicts. (More)

• APN was invited by ESCWA to participate in a panel discussion on “Restoring Degraded Lands in the Arab Region”. The discussion coincided with World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (17 June 2021). (More)

• APN advocates for a stop to wars and support to small farmers at Arab Regional Food Systems Dialogue (More).

• APN contributed to setting the Terms of Reference for the Working Group for Eliminating Hunger in Conflict-Inflicted Countries, at its first meeting held at the UN ESCWA Headquarters in Beirut in March 2019.       

• ESCWA invited APN to speak at the 2019 Regional Conference on Food and Water Security, with 80 participants, including representatives from Arab States and regional and international organizations.    

• 2019, APN attended the Regional Consultation on Climate Change, organized by the In League of Arab States and ESCWA, in Beirut.     

• APN was invited as a panelist at the Regional Consultative Meeting on Environment and Natural Resources held at the Arab League in Cairo. The purpose of the meeting is to gather regional messages to be transmitted to the UN High Level Political Forum in New York.    

• APN spoke at ESCWA-organized the Arab Sustainable Development Week in November 2018 in Cairo.    

• In 2018, APN organized a multi-stakeholder regional conference with ESCWA, in Beirut, to discuss the implications of protracted crises on food security and nutrition in the Arab region, under the patronage of the Lebanese Minister of Agriculture Ghazi Zuaiter.  It was attended by government representatives from conflict-inflicted countries, including Yemen, Palestine, Iraq, and Palestine; regional and international intergovernmental organizations; civil society organizations from 9 different Arab countries; donors; as well as participants from the private sector.  

• APN also organized a national multi-stakeholder workshop with ESCWA to address the effects of protracted crises on Jordanian food security.       

• In 2015, APN participated in ESCWA’s expert group meeting on the Water-Energy-Food Security Nexus.       

• APN gave effective input on behalf of Arab civil society at the High-Level Arab Forum on Sustainable Development in 2014, and subsequent years, and successfully pushed for the inclusion of food security and agriculture into the proposals for Sustainable Development Goals for the Arab Region.

• In 2013, ESCWA and APN invited ANFS members as Arab Civil Society representatives at the  Expert Group Meeting on Green Agricultural Value Chains for Improving Livelihood in the Arab Region. (More).