Coordination with Gulf environmental ministries and authorities to invite participation
Dr. Wajdan Ali Al-Aqab, President of the Kuwait Environment Protection Society and President of the Gulf Network for Environmental NGOs, called, in a Kuwaiti initiative, for the Ministry of Social Affairs to address the Ministries of Social Affairs in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on a regular basis and to coordinate with environmental ministries and authorities and relevant bodies to invite these NGOs and environmental teams to join the network, in line with the network's roles and activities, which will benefit the Gulf environment and raise the level of environmental awareness in Gulf societies. In addition, she called for presenting and explaining the cooperation between the GCC General Secretariat and the network to the esteemed Ministers of Social Affairs in the GCC countries to facilitate the NGOs obtaining the required approvals from the relevant departments in those ministries, as the associations wish to join and look forward to the support of the ministries responsible for them with approval.
Dr. Al-Aqab added that “the Gulf Network of Environmental NGOs is a Gulf body with legal and corporate personality, and it has full capacity to conduct its business and achieve its goals with moral and material independence. Its headquarters are in the State of Kuwait, and it was established and registered in the presence of the Public Authority for the Environment in the State of Kuwait on April 26, 2000, in the presence of the heads of the boards of directors of the Gulf environmental NGOs from whom the idea of establishing the network originated. These are the Friends of the Environment Society in the United Arab Emirates, the Youth and Environment Society in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Friends of the Environment Center in the State of Qatar, and the Kuwait Environment Protection Society in the State of Kuwait.” She stated that the network “seeks to achieve the goals of strengthening and developing cooperation and coordination mechanisms among environmental institutions, exchanging knowledge and experiences with governmental and non-governmental bodies and relevant international organizations, establishing an advanced environmental information database, highlighting the efforts of the Gulf countries in preserving the environment, raising awareness of the activities and roles of institutions directly related to the environment, in addition to cooperating to enhance joint projects for the protection, rehabilitation, and development of the environment in the GCC countries, and strengthening the confidence of GCC citizens in regulatory bodies and supporting them in performing their work and achieving their goals.”.
She revealed that “the network has gained the trust of regional and Arab institutions and entities over the years, including the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, explaining that the network has been an observer member in the meetings of Arab ministers responsible for environmental affairs since 2001 under Resolution No. (Q149-A26 MT-24/5/2001), and the network is a member of the Steering Committee of the Environmental Education, Awareness and Media Program in the Arab World in the Technical Secretariat of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for Environmental Affairs since 2001, and the network attended the joint Arab ministerial meeting in preparation for preparing the Arab position at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2001), in addition to cooperating with the General Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development in the General Union of Arab Producers, which works through the Council of Arab Information Ministers in the League of Arab States.”.
Regarding cooperation between the network and the General Secretariat of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, Dr. Wajdan Al-Aqab said: The network is an observer member in technical meetings in the field of the environment, in accordance with the recommendation issued by the sixteenth meeting of the Environmental Coordination Committee (Kuwait - April 2002) to activate the decision of the leaders (December - 2001) regarding encouraging the establishment of civil associations in the GCC countries in the field of voluntary environmental work. The Secretariat called on the competent authorities in the GCC countries to cooperate with the network since June 2000, stressing that the network received congratulations for its establishment from competent Gulf governmental bodies and extended bridges of cooperation with the network through activities and events (since 2001).
She added that “the network has worked for twenty years to strengthen relations between environmental associations in the GCC countries to enhance the exchange of expertise among them through numerous beneficial activities and events, documented in the network’s media coverage. Gulf environmental NGOs have held many forums and conferences, the recommendations of which concluded with the need for a regional Gulf environmental civil entity that brings together public benefit associations with an environmental mandate. This entity would be easy to join, facilitating the exchange of experiences and successes and disseminating them across the GCC countries in various forums. These include the Gulf Environmental Forum for Gulf Environmental Public Benefit Associations and Volunteer Teams (Kuwait – 2017), which recommended the establishment of an association for environmental volunteer work at the Gulf Cooperation Council level and the creation of a joint committee concerned with environmental affairs for all relevant entities under the umbrella of the GCC Secretariat. Additionally, the first forum for civil society associations for the environment and sustainable development (a virtual forum – 2020) recommended the establishment of the Gulf Society for the Environment and Sustainable Development, headquartered at the GCC.” She noted that this
“This reflects the need of civil society organizations and their continued demands for the existence of such a Gulf entity to be a melting pot for voluntary environmental activity in the Gulf, where talents are refined and Gulf expertise in the environmental field is localized, and successes are generalized to solve environmental problems, given the similarity of environments and habitats in the Arabian Gulf, the similarity of weather and climate, and environmental problems. In this regard, the Gulf Network of Environmental NGOs has been present on the Gulf scene since 2000 and can meet the need of Gulf civil society to provide coordination and administrative services in accordance with the systems of non-profit civil society organizations.”.
