• AFED at Future Force Conference, The Hague, 9-10 February
AFED participated in the Future Force Conference, hosted in The Hague on 9-10 February by the Dutch Ministry of Defense. The conference focused on the relation between natural resources and security. Secretary General Najib Saab delivered a keynote speech at a session on Natural Resources and Security Nexus, highlighting the impact of climate change, conflicts, wars and occupation on peace and security. The session was organized in cooperation with The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS) and World Resources Institute (WRI). You can read Mr. Saab's full speech here http://afed.me/2mlL8Qf

• GEO-6 Author Meeting, Rome, 20-24 February
AFED Secretary General participated in the joint Author-High Level Group (HLG) meeting of the Global environment Outlook-6. GEO-6 is the flagship assessment report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). AFED annual reports on the state of Arab Environment have been extensively used as references for the regional assessment which preceded the work on GEO-6 http://afed.me/2mFKLvR

• AFED Annual Report, February
8 Ministers and 12 corporate leaders confirmed contributing signed commentaries to 2017 AFED report. They will highlight changes in environmental perception in their ministries/corporations over the past 10 years, in line with the Report's title "Arab Environment in 10 Years".

• New Members, February
Saint Joseph University (USJ), a private research university in Lebanon joined AFED as academic member. The Engineering Association for Development and Environment (EADE), Iraq, also joined as an NGO.

• Sponsorship Drive Continues, February
Efforts to secure sponsorship for AFED 2017 annual report and conference continue. Corporations and funding agencies were targeted, and sponsorship requests were sent out soliciting their financial support.

• Public Opinion Survey
AFED will launch beginning March a wide-ranging public opinion survey in 22 Arab countries, to track public perception of main environment challenges. Results will be compared with those of a similar survey organized when AFED was established in 2006. The survey will be carried out online, in cooperation with member media outlets across the region. Results will be analyzed and published as part of AFED 2017 Annual Report.